Reconstruction
by gypsy rosalie
Summary: After the events on Bug World, Taz and Up's real feelings become increasingly obvious...but not to each other. Meanwhile, Space-Claw's plotting and a dangerous new army is gathering on the other side of the galaxy. TUp.
1. A stranger who looks like Up

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Not even the maths book that proves Taz was right when she said Calculus was tough. That's borrowed, just like the characters in this story.**

**Well, I put this up on Tumblr aaages ago (by ages I probably mean about two weeks, but that's neither here nor there) and I thought I may as well put it up here too so all my fics can be in the one place. There's 3 chapters of it already up there and I've written nearly 5 which I hope to get on here soon.**

**This starts off during Starship but the bulk of it will take place afterwards. Hope you like. :)**

* * *

><p>A part of Taz knew what he was going to say the instant his hands touched her shoulders; the instant he pulled her to the side to allow Tootsie to 'handle' MegaGirl. She felt her muscles stiffen. If he dared, after everything that had just happened…<p>

'Actually Taz,' Up's arm had found its way around her shoulders, and it took every ounce of her willpower not to shake it off- and then probably break it too. 'Maybe, um, I dunno, maybe you and me could, uh…oh, I don't know, just go watch a movie or somethin'…'

Taz shot him a disgusted look. If it had been the old days, she wouldn't have hesitated to accept. If it had been the real Up, she would have said yes. But this man was not Up. This man, with his 'naps' and 'boo-boos', who whined into a hand mirror in a pathetic attempt to boost his self-esteem, just wasn't him. Up had gone, and left her with this stranger who only looked like him.

'You know, like old times?' the man-who-wasn't- Up persisted, and she could sense the hint of desperation climbing into his voice. It didn't sway her.

_Don't you dare _hablar_ about 'old times'. Jou were not there in 'old times'. Jou are not Up._

She folded her arms and turned her head away; she couldn't even look at him- she couldn't trust herself not to kill him, right there and then.

'Throw on one of our favourites, like, oh, I know…the Karate Kid? You know, the good one! The Jackie Chan one!'

Taz could feel her folded hands balling up into fists. 'No,' she spat. Up blinked, uncomprehending, unsure he'd heard right.

'NO!' she repeated forcefully, throwing her hands up. 'I'm going to go work out. Jou know, in case any other killer robots try to kill us? And I'm de only one who can kill dem.' She turned, leaving without a second thought.

_Ees true,_ she thought, fuming all the way to the gym. _I am de only one who could kill those robots now. Dese _idiotas_ on dis mission- jou would think dey'd never seen a gun before. And jou, Up…jou're beyond all hope._

* * *

><p>Taz stood in front of the punching bag, feet apart, poised in determination as she delivered blow after blow, imagining it was Up standing there and growling insults under her breath.<p>

'_What is wrong wid jou, jou soft lil son-of-a-bitch? What have jou become?_ Hijo de puta! _I thought maybe jou were still in dere somewhere- de real you- I believed in jou when nobody else would, and den jou won't even leave an _estupido _robot behind! Jou are not Up! Jou are not half de _hombre _Up was!'_

Channelling her rage intoher fists, she increased the force of the punches, sending the bag swinging back and forth on its hinges. If any killer robots had chosen this moment to enter, she would have been sufficiently mad to tear them apart into bits of scrap metal with her bare hands. All her pent up emotions began to surface, releasing themselves with every hit- not just anger now, but disappointment and hurt too.

Two years she had stuck by him- _two years._ She hadn't cared about his half-robot body, or his lack of balls, so long as he was still the same tough bastard who'd rescued her, who'd made her what she was today, who she'd harboured an embarrassing crush on for four years. And she'd clung to that hope, no matter how many months passed with him sobbing and whinging and talking about his _estupido_ rehab techniques…the hope that Up- _her_ Up was still in there, just buried deep- he just needed some sort of kick in the right direction and his true self would shine through.

The months had gone by, and it hadn't happened, but she'd clutched at that hope. Up hadn't been on a mission since his famous injury- maybe having a job to do was all he needed- maybe it would jump-start his killer instincts.

The MegaGirl incident had snapped the last of her patience. Him asking _how they were feeling_ after he had single-handedly gotten them into a certain death situation had driven her over the edge. The last shred of hope that Up might return tore itself from her heart, much like the moustache she had torn from his face.

Up was gone. He wasn't coming back- not now, not ever.

Taz turned back to the bag and punched it with renewed vigour.

* * *

><p>Commander Up was pacing as Specs entered the command deck, thinking, fingering his moustache and reflecting on the fact that Taz was sore at him.<p>

'You wanted to see me, sir?'

Up spluttered, startled. He'd forgotten he'd called Specs in, engrossed in his own thoughts.

'Oh, yeah. Specs. I did. Been a heck of a day, hasn't it, Specs? Almost getting' eaten by a giant spider…that must have been pretty scary….' Not to mention how scary it was when he thought they were all going to go off and leave him there. Not to mention how scary it was to comprehend that Taz mightn't like him any more- or may never again.

'In retrospect I suppose it was, sir, but at the time I simply found it scientifically fascinating.'

'Bullsh*t!' Up snapped. He couldn't have this! Even geeky _Specs_ was braver than him nowadays. What had he become? He _tried_. Heck, it wasn't like he didn't _try_ to be tough- he'd feel the old familiar surge of anger and bravery, he'd start to speak…and then he'd remember his robot right side, the fact that he had no balls, the fact that his ego all these years hadn't been justified. He _wasn't_ invincible. He _wasn't_ indestructible. He'd built up the vain idea over the years that he was strong, he was tough, he was _the_ Commander Up, and nothing could kill him.

But something almost had, and he'd had to face the reality that he was just as puny and weak as everyone else.

Worse than that, Taz still wanted him to be the indestructible Up of the past- and he just couldn't do that any more.

A part of his mind was still focusing on this as he bounced the bespectacled ranger on his lap, letting his soft self speak for him and issue forth platitudes about her being 'tired' and having a 'tour of duty off in dreamland.' He hated himself for even thinking childish crap like that, much less saying it in front of people, but for some reason he just couldn't' stop himself. He only absently noticed the way Krayonder looked at the sleeping ranger as he carried her away. _He likes her. I know that look._

Up sat down, shaking his head, and turning his full attention back to his own dilemma.

'Um, hello sir…' Not a minute on his own.

'Why if it isn't Bug, my oldest friend!' As it happened, Bug was one of the few people on board the ship he didn't mind seeing right now. Bug didn't think of him as a failure. Bug was asking _him_ for help. Nobody asked him for help any more- they usually went to Taz. Just another sign of what a failure he was.

'Commander Up…what if someone likes you… a _lot_… but they only like you because everything they know about you is a lie?'

Mmhmm. He could relate to that.

'_So this is about me…' _Up didn't realise he'd said the words out loud. '_And how I've been lying to you…'_ to the crew, to Taz, to _everyone,_ by pretending he was still a tough son of a bitch, by pretending he could still be the Commander he used to.

Which he wasn't.

'No, not exactly…you wanna talk about that instead?'

The young ranger's offer was so inviting. Up hadn't really had a chance to just _talk_ about what happened with anyone. Everyone was always pushing him to get back on his feet, to keep moving forward, away from the incident- he'd never really had the opportunity to step back and look at everything that had happened, not even in his therapy sessions. He found himself nodding vigorously.

'Yeah. I do.'

And before he knew what was what he was sitting on Bug's lap, spilling his guts about how he wasn't the same as he used to be, about his famous injury, and sobbing-actually_ sobbing_, dammit! Weeping in the arms of a stranger like he was little more than three years old!

'Up, Up, I don't think your problem is that big of a deal!'

The words stunned him enough to stop crying and stare at Bug. 'What the heck are you talkin' about, soldier?'

Bug immediately launched into a detailed description of the giant mother spider and her vicious maternal instincts- boy, being raised on Bug World had made him think up some creepy analogies, that was for sure. But as Up listened, he began to see the young ranger's point.

Could it be possible to care about stuff _and_ be strong?

'You need to find a way to kill…' Bug finished triumphantly, 'with your _heart.'_

Well, that certainly gave Up a lot to consider.

* * *

><p>Up thought about what the newest ranger had said long after he had left. Kill with his heart. <em>Kill<em> with his _heart._ Well, that was a contradiction in terms. But killing for love…now that was an idea. He knew he'd do anything for Taz- heck, he _had_ done anything for Taz- he'd leapt in between Taz and that autobot to get her out of trouble, he'd taken that circular buzz-saw to save her. And he'd do that again, if he had to- newfound fears or not- his love for Taz was that strong.

Hang on.

Love?

Since when did he 'love' Taz? Since when did he start even liking her in that way? He'd just admitted it to Bug without even thinking.

He couldn't 'love' Taz. She was his Little Friend. He'd always looked out for her, in a kind of older-brother way. He remembered the day he'd brought her home, a stray in a nice dress, who had, in her confusion, mistaken him for a robot and hit him with her high-heeled shoe. He remembered when he'd sat up all night with her, trying to explain that all she had to do to find the minimum height was make the first derivative equal zero, trying not to get frustrated with her because calculus came so easily to him and not to her. He'd remembered thinking at the time that she was like his kid sister- and she was, in almost every way, but somehow the label 'sister' and the name 'Taz' wouldn't fit together in his mind.

You just didn't get caught gazing aimlessly into space while watching your sister work out, trying not to think about how good she looked in a singlet. You didn't spend the whole evening huffing and wondering why you were jealous because your sister went out with Junior, and then secretly celebrating when it turned out she'd had a horrible time and they wouldn't be going on another date.

You just didn't think about those sorts of things if you thought of someone as your sister. So instead, he'd pushed back the feelings he'd thought he was experiencing and called her his Little Friend. That label would do. It meant he cared about her, without hinting at anything else.

But now, in his vulnerability, somehow he'd forgotten to shut the door of his mind, and those repressed feelings had come rushing out. What was worse, they'd had to manifest themselves at a time when Taz was mad at him.

_Damn._

Up didn't honestly think she'd meant all those things she'd said. She didn't _really_ think he'd lost all of himself in the Robot Wars, did she? She didn't _really_ think there was no hope for him, did she? Taz got frustrated easily. Taz said a lot of things she didn't mean.

But if she was right…well, Up didn't want to risk it. He had to get over this 'soft' thing. He had to get back to normal, no matter what it took. Anything for Taz.

* * *

><p>Taz stalked towards her quarters, the accumulation of sweat from a solid three hour workout dripping from her hair and down her forehead. She'd overdone it, her temples were pounding and she badly needed some water.<p>

'Hey there.' She felt her shoulders tense up again at the familiar accent. _Leave me alone._

No such luck.

'You okay?'

'I have a headache,' she replied, not looking at him. 'In my head.'

'Aw, Taz, that's too bad,' Up's hand was on her shoulder again. She shook it off with a growl.

'Don't jou dare pity me. Jou are not entitled. I do not feel pain.' Not true, but when she did feel it she didn't react. 'I am going to walk it off.'

She stalked towards the door, away from him.

'Taz?' the voice called after her. She paused.

'You didn't really mean all that stuff yeh said, right? Back there on Bug World?'

Taz sighed and turned. 'I look at jou, I see someone who could be so much more. Is such a waste.'

It was an answer, but it didn't assuage his worries. Up watched her leave sadly. She really did think he was a failure overall.

_Damn._


	2. Still a killer

She still wasn't speaking to him by the time Bug and February rushed in, the schience officer spouting a whole load about how Junior picked them all for the mission because he thought they were 'handicapped.' Her descriptions of Up, Specs and Krayonder were pretty accurate, Taz thought with a smirk- but it hadn't escaped her attention that February had neglected to say anything about her, though. Why would Junior pick her for an _estupido_ mission? She was tough, she was a damned tough son of a bitch, she was a good fighter, she was…

Was it because of their failed date all those years ago? _Or is it because I'm such an _idiota _I can't even admit my own feelings…_Taz's mind told her. Taz shook away those thoughts. She didn't feel anything for Up- not when he wasn't Up any more.

'So…Junior handpicked us all 'cause he thinks we're _handicapped_, huh?' February was continuing, trying embarrassingly to sound like she actually knew what she was talking about, which Taz very much doubted. 'Well I think it's about time we showed Junior just how _handy _we can be!'

The general murmur of assent rose up, interrupted by the docking of Junior's pod.

'Krayonder,' Up growled from beside her, and for a moment it sounded like the old Up was back, 'prepare to take our friend Junior into custody.'

That may be Up's voice, but Taz didn't let herself hope too hard. After all that had happened on Bug World, it was going to take more than a gruff voice to convince her the real Up might be resurfacing. He would have to prove it.

The screams of the crew snapped her out of her thoughts as three enormous, cackling mosquitos buzzed their way onto the ship, spearing Krayonder and aiming for the others, followed by a giant of a bug, its enormous pincers poised and dangerous.

Taz felt the rush of adrenaline through her veins. Time for a proper fight!

Her mood was dampened when she noticed Up cowering.

* * *

><p>Taz was practically bouncing up and down on her feet- they had to go, now!<p>

'Let's go! Dose _cucarachas_ can't be far behind!'

She didn't _care_ about Bug and February's _estupido_ relationship problems- they had bigger things to worry about right now, and she motioned angrily again and again for them to _get a move on!_

Up's pathetic coos of 'let it out' as he comforted the schience officer were driving her insane! Time to break this up.

She shoved Bug hard, swearing at him. 'Jou can't be trusted…and neither can jou,' gave Up a filthy look. He was _never_ going to change back. Taz refused to look at him as she barked orders to Specs to reverse the core overload and tried to give February a five-second crash-course in how to use a zapper.

It was up to her now. She held her zapper at the ready and prepared to run.

'Wait- Taz! Where are you goin'?' Up sounded terrified.

'I'm going to go mislead those damn bugs and buy us some time!' _Remember things like that? Tough things?_

'Taz…that sounds awfully dangerous!'

'I know, Up! An old friend told me once what it's like to laugh in de face of danger.' _Dat was jou, for the record. _'You two _idiotas _STAY OUT OF MY WAY!'

And she was off. Taz didn't hear his last cry- didn't hear him wail her name, didn't see him charge after her.

* * *

><p>Up didn't know what he was doing as he ran through the halls of the ship. He had no plan. All he knew was that Taz was going to her death, and he couldn't let her do that. He'd seen more soldiers than he could count killed before his eyes, their blood splattered on his face, back in the day, and he'd hidden from more battles than he could count within the past two years- but where Taz was concerned his brain disappeared.<p>

She was his Little Friend, she was the girl he liked, she was Taz, and he couldn't just let her go and die, even if she _did_ no longer care for him.

What he saw as he rounded the corner wrenched at his heart- his Little Friend was surrounded by the damn bugs, slowly sinking to her knees as they feasted on her.

Up didn't plan what happened next. He didn't know when the soft persona fell away, and the surge of strength rushed through him.

It just happened.

* * *

><p>'Come and get me, you stupid bugs!' Taz roared, her throat going hoarse. She was damn well gonna die for <em>something<em>, even if no-one else was. 'Follow de leader!'

She felt the slice of pain as one of the mosquitos plunged its nose into her back, shortly followed by a second stab from the other side. She could feel the tugging as they drew the blood from her, she collapsed to the floor, weak, the third mosquito joining the others to feast on her….

'TAZ!' the voice sounded murky in her half-conscious state, but that sounded like…Up? Oh, _gran, _if he was going to make an even bigger idiot of himself…she resolved that if she wasn't about to die she'd make sure she killed him.

'Get off her, you damn bugs!' Taz's eyes flickered open as Up charged towards the group, tearing the mosquitos off her and flinging them aside. Her breath caught in her throat. _Could it be…_

An almost feral growl sprang from his throat. 'You bugs want blood?' He was ripping his shirt apart now, 'then take it! Come on! I said take some!'

Taz watched incredulously as they charged at him, spearing at him and beginning to drink, her thoughts turning to the last time she'd hit him. He'd complained about the pain, but now here he stood, taking the bloodsucking bugs' assault without a care.

'That all you got? I said DO IT!' It was him! It was Up! The real Up! He'd come back! 'Come on, big guy! It's all you can eat! You damn bugs!'

He was back! She'd got him back…just as he was about to die in her place. And she'd doubted him too soon.

_Mierda._

Taz summoned the last of her strength, starting to get up just as Up fell to the ground.

'No! Up!' the feelings she'd tried to get rid of all swarmed back at once at the thought- _she was going to lose him._ 'Damn you!' she could feel her voice breaking, 'damn you, you damn fool! Damn jou and jour _big damn heart!'_

The tears were actually starting to come now, but Taz didn't care. He was dead. After everything they'd gone through over the last eight years, after surviving being cut in half by robots, _this_ was when he had to die. And she hadn't had a chance to tell him…

_Cough._

Taz's head shot up. Did he just cough? Was he still…

'You want blood?' came the croak. He was still alive! 'Then take it!' His heartbeat was so loud she could hear it from across the room, slow and steady. 'Take…it…'he was clawing his way back to his knees, getting back up… 'ALL!' with a mighty roar he leapt to his feet, the mosquitos gurgling and shrieking as their swollen abdomens exploded. Taz made a face as the twisted creatures glugged a few more times and were silent, their limp bodies dropping to the floor of the ship.

She opened her mouth and pointed, unsure what exactly to say, or what had just happened. 'Up, how…how did jou…'

'Make them violently explode?' Up was redoing his shirt, his breathing slightly laboured but otherwise showing no sign that he had just been violently attacked and lost a lot of blood. And the mirror, the hated mirror was not making an appearance- it was nowhere in sight.

'I raised my heartbeat,' Up said, 'using breathing exercises.'

Taz nodded slowly, taking it in. _Looks like that therapy _mierda_ actually did come in handy…_

'And their puny bodies must not have been able to handle all of my blood!' he didn't sound nervous- he didn't sound frightened or disgusted by what had just occurred. He sounded almost…_happy._

'Bug was right! I just needed to learn how to kill…with my heart!'

_Que?_ Taz didn't let the momentary confusion kill her mood- he'd gotten back up! He'd gotten back up!

Up was ecstatic. 'I killed them all, Taz! I killed them all! I'm still a killer!' he threw up his arms in praise. 'Oh, I'm still a killer!'

'That's great!' Taz cried, her arms wide, and they ran into each other's embrace. Taz hugged him hard as he swung her around with a shout of 'Oh, Taz!', wanting to burst from the happiness of it all.

He was here. _Her_ Up. He'd been there all the time, buried deep within that soft shell.

'You know, Up,' she said after he put her down, her hands still on his shoulders, 'I used to think dat I was de proof jou di'n need de balls to be tough…but now I know, jou-_jou _are de proof dat jou don't need a tiny skin sack of de testicles to be one tough son of a bitch!' And she meant every word.

'Thanks, Taz!' she saw the relief cross his face. 'Now come on, let's go help out the rest of the crew!'

She knew what he was going to say the instant he touched her arm- but this time, she wanted him to say it.

'Quick! Hop on my back!' he growled, 'I can run faster than the two of us combined!'

Taz didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed hold of the hand he offered, swung herself onto his back, and it felt just like old times as they charged toward the door, their piercing battle cry echoing off the walls.

* * *

><p>A lot could happen in a few short hours. In a few short hours during the robot war, Commander Up had been torn in two and turned from a tough ranger into a cowardly lion. In a few short hours yesterday, he'd tried and failed to regain Taz's trust. In the past few short hours, he'd proven himself to still be the same old Up, discovered the truth about Bug, buried him and then seen him stride out alive, albeit in a slightly more unusual form, and officiated at a wedding between human and robot.<p>

It was hard to believe that after they'd been facing imminent death on all sides they were now celebrating down on Bug World, with a host of colourful creatures welcoming them.

Up kept one arm around Taz the whole time, only partly paying attention as Krayonder and Specs chatted, as Bug taught February a mass of strange cheeping sounds that amounted to 'I love you' in his language, as Tootsie and his new bride looked at the stars.

Well, he'd gone the long way round, but he had her respect again. He'd gotten over this soft thing- for her.

_Anything for Taz._

The words had rung truer than ever when he had rushed to her aid in her moment of need.

'Eep opp ork ah-ah to you too, Bug!' February's squeal rang out. Up and Taz shared a glance and a smirk. Up shook his head a little, but as he did so he noticed the slight flicker of anguish in his Lieutenant's eyes.

'Hey, everyone!' Bug called, interrupting the Commander's plans to ascertaining what was wrong with Taz. 'Why don't you guys all come down to the hive with me and February? I can show you all where I grew up, and…'

'Oh, Bug, this is so exciting,' February said, clutching hold of his arm and no longer even slightly squeamish about being surrounded by insects, and the pair of them, followed closely by Krayonder, Specs, Tootsie and Megagirl pranced off towards the hive.

'Er, you all go on ahead,' Up called, keeping his arm round Taz to hold her where she was, 'we'll catch ya up later.'

Taz frowned up at him. 'What are jou doing?'

'Aw, we can go down there in a minute…' he squared his shoulders and looked down at her. 'Once you tell me what's wrong.'

Taz glared. 'Is nothing wrong!'

'Bullsh*t!' Up replied. 'I know you, Taz and I know when something's botherin' ya…' he hesitated, then sat down on a rock, taking her arm and pulling her into his lap. 'You wanna talk about it?'

'What jou doing?' Taz scowled, struggling to get out of his grasp.

Up shrugged. 'The world always looks a bit brighter from on top of a lap, or so I've found…'

Momentarily his Little Friend looked like she was about to hit him, but then she sighed and sat still.

'_Lo siento,'_ she murmured after a while.

Up furrowed his brow. 'For what?'

'I gave up on jou,' she said quietly, her voice taking on an edge he didn't think he'd heard before. 'I'd waited for so long for jou to be jourself again, and when it didn't happen, I…I doubted jou were still in there.' She placed one hand over his human heart.

'Mmhmm,' Up nodded.

'But I was wrong.'

'Yeah, that pretty much sums it up…'

Taz smirked in spite of herself and elbowed him in the ribs.

'Taz, I don't blame ya for getting; mad. I gave you every reason to. Don't cut yourself up over thinkin' I wasn't gonna get better 'cause for a moment there I thought so too.'

Taz looked up at him. 'Forgive me?'

'Hey, there's nothin' to be forgiven for! We're good, right?'

She smiled. '_Si_, we're good….there's just one thing that's really _fastidioso…'_ a mischievous smile crossed her features- one Up hadn't seen since she was much younger, as she reached up and straightened his moustache. 'If jou're gonna pretend jou grew dat thing, jou could at least make it look _autentico._'

The Commander laughed, both in amusement and joy. She was being open with him again- that was a good sign.

It suddenly occurred to him that Taz's face was just inches from his own; her eyes, her mouth, everything about her looking so inviting at this moment in time. It would be so easy…_so easy_ to lean forward and close that gap…

'Hey, sir! Ma'am! You're missin' a great party down here!'

_Damn that Tootsie Megagirl,_ Up thought, forcing himself to not look irritated as Tootsie huffed his way towards them. 'Aren't you guys gonna come join in the fun?'

Up set Taz down from his lap and stood. 'Yeah, why not? C'mon, Taz.'

They followed Tootsie back down to the hive, both deep in thought.

_Just as well,_ Up decided, although part of him didn't really mean it. _I just got her back as a friend. Better not push it._


	3. Dora the Explorer

Neither of them mentioned the almost-incident-that-wasn't. They returned to the hive with Tootsie and spent the evening joining in with the celebrations- or in Taz's case, arguing with Roach, who'd seen her enter with Up and was getting under her skin asking whether she was planning to tear off his head and let her larva devour his body anytime soon, and did she know that she reminded him of a girl he used to know called Buggette?

The Lieutenant was making a lunge for his wings when Up finally managed to drag her away.

* * *

><p>The next few days were a whirlwind of preparations and paperwork as Starship 15A2 prepared for its return to earth and the G.L.E.E. headquarters. Bug flitted about the ship, chirping excitedly to February about how he'd never been to earth before, and how nervous he was about his official admission into the League, and his girlfriend was gushing just as much about all the places they would go shopping, quite forgetting that their return to earth would involve duties and not leisure time. Krayonder and Specs were still pretending they weren't even slightly interested in each other, and every day without fail some hick-story about a stack of hay would pass between Tootsie and his wife.<p>

Commander Up went about with a new feeling of pride, re-familiarising himself with his proper Commander's role, overseeing everything and not having to remind himself that he wasn't a failure overall. He knew it.

His mirror hadn't made an appearance since that fateful day- not that it would ever again, as Taz had thrown it in the trash when he wasn't looking, but Up didn't need it anyway. He had Taz's respect, and that was all he needed to exponentially boost his self-esteem.

He hadn't really let himself think about what had almost happened down on Bug World. Taz wasn't mad at him, and that was the important thing. When he did think of her, his thoughts automatically went to his room, to the large-screen TV, to their favourite movie. He'd missed those sorts of times they'd shared, and next time he got a minute alone with her he planned to ask her again if she was interested in reliving one or two. Now there weren't any more killer robots, she might choose him over a workout.

'Ow! Dammit!'

Up's musings were interrupted as, in his daydream, he nearly walked right into Krayonder and February. Krayonder was clutching his face, the dumb blonde beside him screwing up her face trying to work out some kind of logic too complex for her simple mind to understand.

'But if you try to piss her off…' she began, biting her lip in her confusion, 'and then she _gets_ pissed off, why are you mad?'

Krayonder raised his head to glare at her, and Up noticed the swollen black ring around his left eye.

'What the hell happened?' Up asked, examining the black eye and, to his credit, refraining from even once saying 'let me see the boo-boo.'

Krayonder huffed. 'Ask Dora the Explorer, man.'

'Who?'

'_Jou want me to fix it so jour eyes match? Call me that one more time!_' The shrill shout answered Up's question before Krayonder had a chance to, and Taz stormed in looking like anger personified. Despite the fury on her face, Up had to stifle a snigger. Now he came to think of it, she kinda _did_ look like Dora the Explorer- a sort of grown-up, angrier version. Who liked to kill things rather than save them. Come to think of it, maybe it was just the fact that she was little and spoke Spanish.

He tried to take control of the situation, exercising his authority as a proper Commander.

'Taz, what the hell's goin' on?'

'She hit me, dude,' Krayonder whined.

Taz nodded. 'Twice.'

'Huh?' Krayonder forgot he was complaining and looked confused. '_Once…' _he corrected, falling into her trap.

'Jou really walk into dese things, _idiota_,' Taz said, extending her left arm and giving him a matching set of eyes anyway.

'Hey, hey,' Up grabbed hold of her arms, 'enough o' that, now.' He turned to Krayonder.

'Listen, candy-ass, she don't like it, you don't call her it. She's got a mean right hook when she's mad- as you should know by now.'

'And you,' he turned to Taz, 'I wanna talk to you- alone.' Still holding her arms, he steered her into the next corridor, leaving the other rangers to go about their business.

'De hell are jou doing?' she snapped. 'Dat _hijo de puta _thinks he can get away wit making me mad and I am damn well gonna…'

'Hey, it's got nothin' to do with all that…Dora,' he couldn't help himself, and regretted it when she kicked him. Hard. 'Naw, I just was wonderin', well now we got no mission for a while, and there's no killer robots…whatddya say to the Karate Kid tonight? You know, like old times?'

Taz's face softened for just a moment, and Up was struck dumb by how much feeling he had for this woman. No, no, he was letting his mind run away from him. She was his friend. His little friend. His best friend. That was the extent of it.

'Just try and stop me,' she said, and then the fierce Taz was back. 'Now out of my way, I'm going to finish off dat _idiota_ Krayonder.'

Up shook his head as she charged off. Violence wasn't supposed to be endearing.

* * *

><p>'Oh. My- <em>Krayonder,<em>' February shook her companion as he started to walk off, ignoring what she was saying, 'did you _see_ that?'

'See what?' he replied, rubbing his swollen eyes.

'Like, Taz and Commander Up!' February squealed. 'You've got to have seen the way she looked just now?'

'What, mad?'

'No!' the blonde cried, slightly exasperated. 'I mean they way she looked when Up came in! She's _totally _into him!'

'Huh?'

'You just had to look at her eyes!' February said, 'she went from wanting to rip your head off to wanting to rip his clothes off!'

Krayonder rolled his eyes. 'Sure, man, you can tell all that from her _eyes.'_

'I'm serious,' the schience officer insisted. 'You know what? I think we should keep an eye on them- find out for sure if there's something goin' on!'

'They'll kill us!' Krayonder protested- these last few days, the crew had had to start getting used to the Commander's wrath as well as Taz's, now he'd gotten over his 'soft' phase. Hmm, if February was right, though, he might be able to use this stuff as blackmail material- or at least make a couple of bucks in bets. 'Yeah, okay. But if we get caught, I'm sayin' it's your fault!'

* * *

><p>Up smiled. It didn't get better than this. Jackie Chan on the screen, a huge bowl of popcorn and Taz sitting beside him. He'd missed moments like this, when everything felt companionable, even if they weren't saying much. After eight years, Up supposed, you could know someone well enough not to have to say anything, just enjoy each other's company.<p>

Taz was curled up on the sofa, arms wrapped around her knees and her chin resting on her hand, still panting- she'd come straight here from her habitual workout, but she looked more…relaxed. The sight took him back to all those days when they were younger, when Taz was still in training- more often than not, he'd let her come to his room to study, to give her a bit of peace and quiet and let her get away from the others, and these evenings would inevitably end with her falling asleep with her face in her books, him placing her on the sofa with a blanket and them watching 'the Karate Kid' when she woke up next morning.

Those were good times.

'Jou watching me or _la pelicula?'_ Taz demanded without looking at him, and Up muttered an apology, the almost-incident coming back to the forefront of his mind.

'Sorry…you just look tired is all,' he lied.

'Well I'm not.' Taz said. 'So don't.'

The silence had suddenly become awkward, so the Commander frantically racked his brains for something to change the subject to. Taz beat him to it.

'Jou tell General Holden about dat _cabron_ Hunior?'

'Yep,' Up exhaled, 'talked to him yesterday. Told him all about the stuff that went on down there-Junior's plan and everything. Space-Claw's maintaining Junior was just high on pot, or some crap like that, and that he never told him to do anything of the kind.'

'No-one _believes_ dat _mierda_, do they?'

'Wouldn't count on it, Taz, but Space-Claw's word carries a lotta weight now he practically owns the G.L.E.E.'

'So they're not gonna look into it at all?'

Up shook his head. 'Doesn't look like it.'

Taz made a frustrated growling noise. '_Idiotas.'_

The movie was up to Up's favourite fight scene, but he wasn't really paying the TV all that much attention right now. His mind turned towards a few different things simultaneously- the fact that they were going to be back on earth in a day or two, the fact that for a couple of months Starship 15A2 wasn't going to be receiving any new missions, and that meant more time to spend with Taz. _Oh, crap_, it also meant training up the new recruits, but Up couldn't be bothered thinking about that at the moment. Taz had just reached over him to grab a handful of popcorn, and the contact of her hand against his arm brought with it the sudden vision of her in his lap, her slender fingers fiddling with his moustache, her face so close…

'Taz…' he blurted without thinking, jumping unnecessarily as she turned to look at him.

'What?'

What was he supposed to say now? _I was just thinking about how much I like you? I almost told you by accident just now?_

He was really stuck for words. Up desperately tried to dredge up something to say so she'd keep looking at him, so he could keep getting lost in those fiery eyes. 'Um, Taz…' he still hadn't come up with anything, he'd have to make it up as he went along…

'Ohhhmigosh_Krayonder_ I think he's gonna propose or something!'

The muffled third voice caused both Commander and Lieutenant to jump out of their skins, both turning in the direction of the wardrobe. Before Up could respond, Taz had leapt up off the sofa, stalked across the room and pulled the door open, causing February and Krayonder to fall out of it onto the floor.

'What are you guys doin' in my room?' Up cried.

'Um, we were just,' February blushed ferociously, 'just playing hide-and-seek…from Bug…'

'Not in here, jou're not!' Taz yelled, grabbing them by their collars, yanking them to their feet and shoving them in the direction of the door. 'Out!'

'Oh, are we _interrupting_ something?' the schience officer asked cheekily.

'Get out, get out, get OUT!'

'Okay, man, we're goin'!' Krayonder said, tugging February out the room.

Taz slammed the button to shut the door, but not before she'd heard the blonde's giggle of 'I was right! There's totally something going on!'

The Hispanic girl leaned against the door, exasperated. '_What de hell goes on in this ship at night?'_


	4. So this is earth

**First before I proceed, let me offer my most sincere apologies for the amount of typos in the previous chapters. Even after editing them I still hadn't noticed some eg 'piece' not 'peace' and where I left out a whole sentence. **

**Anyway, here's chapter 4. Enjoy.**

* * *

><p>The first thing Taz had done when the movie was finished was hunt down the two impromptu spies and give them a furious reprimand, punctuated with a few hits which February desperately tried to dodge, and the angry shout that hiding in the Commander's wardrobe for any purpose, or even entering his room without permission was unacceptable, did they understand?<p>

Funny thing was, Taz wasn't even sure why she was so mad. The _idiotas_ did this sort of thing all the time- and yes, she would get annoyed, but really it wasn't that big a deal. It wasn't as if they'd burst in on a private or intimate moment- just Up and Taz, watching TV like they so often did.

Taz wasn't sure. Maybe it was just that she felt watching 'the Karate Kid' was a…well, _special_ moment between them, something that was shared between just the two of them- no-one else. Maybe it was the fact that these moments might be the closest she ever got to…anything, as far as Up was concerned. They were friends, sure- _great_ friends, in fact, but Up didn't think of her in that way. Of that she was almost certain- and she sure as hell wasn't going to tell him her feelings- that would be embarrassing _and_ weak- two things she aspired never to be.

Up had been about to say something to her, just before February and Krayonder had interrupted. She'd seen a strange look cross his eyes, and he'd been oddly contemplating her all evening- but he never finished the thought, even after the spying rangers had been thrown out. He'd simply gone back to watching the film like they'd never stopped, and Taz forced herself to conclude it would probably have been nothing important anyway.

* * *

><p>The last time Up had been to the G.L.E.E. headquarters, he'd been panicking about the possibility of going on another mission, and wishing fervently for his therapist, who'd broken off his sessions after he'd become too reliant on them.<p>

Starship 15A2 had touched down well past 4am, and most of the crew had made a beeline for their assigned quarters, with the exception of himself, Bug and February.

Too alert to turn in just yet, Up had reluctantly tagged along while the schience officer gushed, and Bug paused every few steps to gaze around, whistle in wonder and say for the umpteenth time _'So, this is earth!'_

The Commander reached the end of his tether the instant dress-shopping managed to work its way into the conversation, and slipped off, leaving them to it. He wandered the grounds, left hand absently twiddling his moustache and remembering. He used to come to this courtyard with Taz sometimes- when she was younger he taught her to spar, and occasionally when they both had time off they would just sit, enjoying the fresh air, Taz usually reading and half-paying attention to his war stories.

He thought back to the last time he'd been here- he'd come on his own to cry about the new recruits, who'd made fun of his limp, and the visit had ended with Taz shouting at him for not standing up for himself. It had been sunny then- it was dark now, and Up sat down on a bench, his face swathed in the moonlight, not thinking of anything in particular.

The light crunch of footsteps behind him sent his heart pounding a little faster than normal. He peered through the darkness, but could see nothing but a shadow.

'Taz?'

The figure stepped into the light and Up fought back a sigh as antennae and pincers came into view, and the gangly form of Bug stood before him. 'Hey, Up. It's me.'

'Yeah,' Up murmured. 'Hi.'

'You okay?'

'Aw, fine, just…' he paused for a moment to find the right word, 'considerin' stuff.'

There was a short gap in the conversation.

'Up…' Bug began, 'were you nervous before you became a Starship Ranger? Officially, I mean?'

'You wanna talk about that?'

The large insect nodded before climbing into Up's lap.

'You got it easy,' Up said, 'believe me, Bug, if all I had to do to get in was save a couple lives…yeah, you got it easy. You're lucky, getting' such a good recommendation. Took a lotta trainin' for the rest of us.'

Bug whistled. 'I guess.'

'You'll make a damn fine ranger, Bug- you already have.'

Bug climbed down again. 'Thanks, Up- oh, by the way, have you told Taz yet?'

Up blinked. 'Told Taz what?'

Bug scrutinised him with his compound eyes. 'That you like her.'

'Huh? No, no,' Up said quickly, shaking his head and waving his arms. 'No, you never tell a girl you like her- it makes you look like an idiot!'

'I told February…' Bug began.

'February's an idiot anyway, so it doesn't matter for you…listen, Bug, you're the only one I've told about Taz- and that was kinda an accident, so just…don't go spreadin' it around, okay? She's only just started talkin' to me again.'

'Okay,' Bug conceded, 'but I should probably warn you that February and Krayonder are on some mad quest to prove you guys are an item. I didn't tell them anything- I swear- it's just that yesterday, they…'

'Yeah,' Up mused, the image of the two offenders tumbling out of his wardrobe coming to mind. 'I've noticed.' _So that's what they were doing…am I that obvious? Do they see something in Taz, or is it just me they're thinking of? Do I really have a chance?_

* * *

><p>Up awoke to the unfamiliar sensation of sunlight burning his eyes. It had been a long time since he'd seen the sun, and had quite gotten used to it being as dark during the day as it was at night, and he'd forgotten what it was to have sunlight stream over you and herald the beginning of the day. Being one of the higher ranks in the G.L.E.E., he was one of the few rangers privileged to have quarters on ground level, with windows, and his room overlooked the courtyard where he had conversed with Bug last night.<p>

As he pulled a shirt over his half human, half robot chest Up walked over to the window, gazing across the lawn and reflecting on all Bug had said. What did he mean_, they thought he and Taz were an item?_ He'd have to press him for more details this morning before they went to Bug's interview, at which he was giving a character reference. Hopefully, by 1300 hours today, two things would have been accomplished.

One, Bug would officially be a Starship Ranger.

And two, he would have found out for sure whether Taz liked him.

* * *

><p>As Taz tied her bandana round her head, her mind was going through all the usual favourite haunts of the new recruits. These waiting periods without missions could be immensely <em>aburrido<em>, and she generally amused herself by terrorising the new kids, making sure they were in their place and had the right amount of fear instilled into them before they commenced training.

Taz took in the fresh air as she stalked across the grounds, relishing the energising effect it had on her. She felt like sparring right now, had there been anyone to spar with- a few rounds of fighting would certainly clear her head of all these _ridiculo_ thoughts about Up. Oh, _mierda, _she'd just thought about it again. _Think about something _else!

'Hey, Taz!'

The Hispanic girl groaned loudly and unashamedly as February trotted towards her, one hand over her blonde hair to stop it blowing about.

'What!' she demanded, jutting out her jaw in an expression of frustration.

'Well, Bug's, like, going to see General Holden to get accepted into the Rangers, so, I'm nervous for him, and I'm also bored, much? So I thought I'd come hang out with you, 'cause, you're like, my friend, right?'

'No.'

The schience officer either didn't hear or was too dumb to realise Taz didn't care to hear whatever she had to say.

'Sooo,' she said, throwing a friendly arm round Taz's shoulders, which she violently shook off, 'how's Up?'

Taz blanched. 'What! I don't know…'

'Are you guys going out yet? Cause that would really help me out…' she was subjected to a dark glare.

'And how,' Taz said acidly, 'would dat _help jou out?'_

'Well, see, me and Krayonder have this bet against Bug and Specs that you guys will…'

'Is that what all that _mierda_ the other night was about?' Taz cut in, her temper flaring. 'Jou were creeping about spying on Up and me to see if we were…we were…' she couldn't finish the sentence, her anger mixed with terrified confusion as she considered the possibility. Was it that obvious, what she thought of him? ? _Or…is it possible maybe he…no, probably not. It just means I'm getting sloppy, not guarding my thoughts well enough._

'Well, are you?'

'No!' Taz shouted, rather more loudly than she planned and causing a few stray starship rangers to shoot looks in their direction. She grabbed the taller girl by the scruff of her collar, fixing her with her most threatening stare. 'Listen, jou _estupido_ little girl, dere is nothing going on between me and Commander Up, and if I find jou stalking either of us again, jou will be dead, _entender?'_

February looked pained. 'Krayonder!' She called across the yard, 'help me out!'

From a hundred or so yards away, Krayonder made a face. Sure, he was all for finding out a thing or two, but February's dumb plans generally ended with them getting caught out and him taking the brunt of Taz's bad temper. He sized up the path, the distance Taz was from him, the amount of time it would take to get back to his room before she caught up.

'Krayonder!' the schience officer called again. _Aw, screw it._

'Hey, look, it's Dora the Explorer!' he yelled loudly, causing the Lieutenant to drop February and turn to him.

'_That is it! Jou never learn, do jou!'_

Krayonder didn't have time to think before she was charging wildly at him. _Thanks, February._

He turned and ran, the cries of _'come back here!'_ ringing in his ears.

* * *

><p>'Well, Bug,' General Holden smiled, looking annoyingly like Junior, only taller, 'seems like you're gonna make quite a ranger, from what Commander Up's told me.'<p>

Bug gave the insect equivalent of a grin. 'So does that mean I get the job? I mean…can I really be a Starship Ranger?'

'You've demonstrated a great level of bravery, Commander Up is willing to give you a place on his ship- I can't see any reason why not. I'll have all the paperwork done by tomorrow- congratulations.'

Up couldn't be sure, but Bug looked like he was about to faint. He had never seen the insect look so happy- not even when February had learned how to say 'I love you' in bug language. _Damn lucky kid._ He had his whole career ahead of him, he had February's love, his life was free of complications.

'Oh, Commander?' Holden's voice drifted towards him as the two headed for the door, 'I'd like a word.'

Up sat back down.

'I hear you're back to your old self. Congratulations.'

Up shrugged. 'Most o' the credit should go to Taz.'

Holden raised one eyebrow. 'Oh?'

'She gave me a kick in the right direction is all,' Up replied hastily, noting the expression on his superior's face.

Holden looked mildly disappointed. 'I see. Well, I am certainly glad of it. We've missed your strong leadership these past two years. We've got a lot of important missions coming up next year and 15A2 has been considered for most of them.'

Up nodded.

'There was one other thing, Commander. I've had a word with Dr. Space-Claw…'

The Commander sat up straighter in his chair. 'Did he…'

'This doesn't concern your…_allegations_ regarding the Bug World mission, if that's what you're thinking. Obviously, I've looked into…'

'They're not allegations,' Up snapped, 'they're facts!'

'That's neither here nor there, Commander. We can't do anything regarding the Junior case with as little evidence as you've provided. All you've shown us is that Junior liked to smoke pot, and that's hardly grounds to make accusations against the head of the League. No, this conversation regards you _specifically.'_

Up had no idea where this was going.

'Tell me, how's your robotic side going lately?'

* * *

><p>The noise next door was driving Taz insane. The other Lieutenants were having a party, and the music and boisterous laughter were drilling at her brain. Didn't the <em>idiotas<em> realise she was trying to sleep? Lieutenant Criss had invited her- but more out of politeness than anything else, and she had replied grumpily that unless she'd missed a newsflash, hell had not frozen over today. She didn't associate with the other Lieutenants- they were all just obnoxious, oversized children as far as she was concerned, and as the bash next door was confirming to her.

'Shut de hell up!' she bellowed, banging on the wall with her fists, but either they were too loud to hear her or they just didn't care. Taz turned her back on the wall and pulled her pillow over her face. Well, whoever invented that was _estupido._ It didn't block out the noise at all and just made her feel like she was suffocating.

Ranting under her breath, she heaved herself out of bed and stalked over to her closet, rummaging and throwing things about until she found her prize- a pair of ancient, outdated headphones that could double as earmuffs, and hopefully get her some quiet.

They didn't. The noise was only minutely muffled.

'_That is it!'_

Taz stormed out into the hallway and rapped loudly on the next door. 'Shut up, _idiotas_!' No response- if anything the noise levels increased. Taz slapped her hand against the door release, but it was locked. Figured.

Giving up on rest, the Hispanic girl wandered aimlessly through the darkened halls of the G.L.E.E. home base, finding herself in the empty mess hall and suddenly craving a glass of water. Having satisfied her thirst, she was about to leave when a sigh caused her to start.

The room wasn't empty. She whirled around, holding her empty glass threateningly at the shadowy figure, but as she squinted through the near darkness at the man, who seemed close to despair, she set it down.

'Up?'

* * *

><p><strong>Mostly pointless, but more stuff is about to start happening. Please let me know what you think!<strong>


	5. A stupid risk

**After much procrastination, here's ch5. Spot the Red Dwarf reference for ten house points XD**

* * *

><p>Up was hunched over the table, head in his hands when Taz found him, trying to keep his breathing normal and not particularly succeeding. She put one hand on his shoulder and shook him.<p>

'Hmm? Oh, hey, Princess Leia.'

Taz frowned in confusion before she remembered the headphones she was still wearing. Ripping them off, she aimed a slap at his head.

'Hey, okay, I'm sorry!' his voice sounded normal, even, almost cheerful, but Taz knew him better than that. What she'd never got the hang of, though, was how to talk to people when they were clearly upset, so she skated around Up's seemingly miserable state.

'Feh. Anything's better than _Dora de Explorer_, I suppose.'

'And what's so wrong with ol' Dora anyway?'

'She is _lindo._ I hate cute. I am nothing like her.'

'Aw,' Up chuckled lightly through the darkness. 'I bet when you were that age you were a button. As in _cute as a.'_

Taz didn't _aim_ the slap this time- she _delivered_ it.

'Okay, okay,' Up said again, raising his hands in surrender. 'What are you doin' up so late anyway?'

'Couldn't sleep. De other Lieutenants are all having a _fiesta_ in Criss's room. What's wrong wid jou?'

'Aww, nothin',' he sighed heavily again, 'just thinking.'

Taz narrowed her eyes. _'Mentiroso.'_

'How'd you know?'

'Jou can't lie to me.'

'Spoke to Holden today.'

His explanation didn't warrant his reaction.

'And?' Taz pressed.

'Well, for starters, he's doin' squat all about Space-Claw. Wouldn't even hear me out.'

Taz swore.

'And now Space-Claw's decided he's gonna start screwin' around with the robotics- and use _me_ as a test subject.'

Taz swore again. _'Why?'_

'Thinks he's found a way to reconstruct human tissue. He's gonna try it out on me.'

'But… that's good, no? Jou were always whinging about de robot parts.'

'It's risky as hell, Taz! Holden reckons there's a chance…well, a chance I mightn't make it outta there. Don't get me wrong, Taz,' he added quickly, before she could respond, 'I ain't goin' soft on ya again, it's just…damn, if I'm gonna die, I want it to be for somethin' real good, not for one o' Space-Claw's games…'

'Don't do it!' the words erupted from Taz's mouth before she could stop them, and she clapped a hand to her face too late.

Up's shoulders heaved. 'I got no choice, Taz. I could lose my job, dammit, you know the rules. We're to get the job done, no matter what it is.' He paused, considering. 'It mightn't be that bad. They're gonna test it out on my leg first, 'cause if they do screw it up I can easily get my robotic one back and then they won't go through with the rest of it.'

Taz relaxed exponentially. _That's not too bad…this could be okay…_

Up sat up a little straighter. 'I'm probably just overreactin', hon. Course it'll be fine, I'm just mad as hell that Space-Claw gets away with his twisted abominations _and_ is allowed to keep on makin' more.'

Up exhaled, much less shakily than before- talking it out with Taz had helped a lot. Something seemed a bit weird though, and Up suddenly realised what it was.

_Did I just call her…_

Opposite him, Taz was thinking a similar thing. _Did he just call me…_

_What is wrong with me?_ Up thought, mentally kicking himself. _I've never called her 'honey' before, I've never called _anyone_ that before, and I still don't know if she likes me…_

'Jou _will_ be fine,' Taz said, turning her concentration back to the reconstruction issue. 'Nothing will go wrong. I forbid it.'

Up couldn't help but laugh at the last line- it was so typically Taz to talk as if she could have the final word in things out of her control. _But calling her 'honey'…_the reconstruction wasn't even holding first place in his thoughts at the moment, despite the fact he was still stressing about it, _I can't believe I just did that. Actually, I can't believe she didn't try to wound me for it…it was kinda nice, it'd be nice to be able to actually call…I'm lettin' my imagination run away with me again._

He sat and talked to Taz for a while, an idle, shallow sort of conversation that skimmed everyday sort of topics as Up filled her in on a few possible new missions Holden had outlined and Taz complained about the boorish other Lieutenants she had to live next door to. Neither of them was fully paying attention though, their thoughts continually drifting back to the accidental term of endearment, their eyes staring at each other through the semi-darkness.

Taz wondered for a moment what it would be like to lean across the table and kiss Up, right here and now. I'd be so easy- they couldn't even see so she wouldn't have to face his look of surprise. _No._ She thought. _Be _realista._ Calling you 'hon' doesn't necessarily mean…_Taz mentally kicked herself for even thinking of it. Why take such a stupid risk? If he didn't like her, and she went ahead and did it anyway- how would she ever be able to face him again?

'Jou wanna spar?' it was the first thing she could think of to say. 'Jou can't sleep, and I don't want to go back to my room and listen to dose _idiotas_ and their _estupido_ party.'

'Sounds like a plan,' Up rose from his chair and Taz did likewise, putting all rebellious thoughts to the back of her mind.

* * *

><p>'I dunno, Krayonder,' Tootsie said slowly, 'I know flirtation. Why, when I was a young'un, I had a flirtatious relationship with a stack of hay…'<p>

'But the stack of hay was your cousin,' everyone droned, except for Megagirl, who, having only thus far downloaded one emotion was perfectly content to hear her husband's story for the umpteenth time.

It was early morning, and, as usual, the crew of Starship 15A2 were carrying out their newly formed tradition of meeting up in the cafeteria before the others came in for breakfast and chatting. Their favourite topic of discussion of late: Taz and Up. Ever since February and Krayonder had come to the conclusion that the two were head over heels for each other, the debate had raged on about whether or not they actually did like each other, and if so, what should be done about it- a debate which often expanded to include other curious members of the G.L.E.E. Despite his initial reluctance, Krayonder was so deeply immersed in the drama that he'd started taking wagers with anyone who'd get close enough, betting embarrassingly large sums of money on how soon they would 'get together', and when they would, as he so delicately put it, 'just do each other already.'

'I think Taz might think slightly differently to a stack of hay, Tootsie,' Bug sighed. Both he and Specs were of the school of thought that Taz and Up should be left well alone and work this stuff out for themselves, and despite knowing more about the situation than the rest, the large insect had kept his lips (or his pincers, to be precise) sealed when it came to the subject.

'Yeah, so you agree with me! I knew ya were on my side, Bug!' Krayonder was practically hopping out of his chair.

'I'm not taking sides!' Bug protested. 'I don't wanna bet on Up and Taz- if they like each other they'll act in their own time!'

'But did you _see_ them this morning? Super cute!'

February had entered, raking a comb through her blonde locks and pausing to kiss the top of Bug's head.

Krayonder looked hopeful. 'This morning?'

'It was _sooo_ cute!' the schience officer's eyes lit up at the idea of telling her findings to an audience, 'like, I went into the gym- not to do any icky sweaty pushups or anything, but, like, just 'cause I was bored and was going exploring…'

'And what'd you see?' Krayonder asked.

'Well, I hadn't brushed my hair yet, so I was about to go back and find a brush so no-one would spot me looking gross…'

'But _what happened?'_ patience had never been Krayonder's strong point.

'They were in there asleep!' February said. 'Like, together!'

'They're sleepin' together! I knew it! I knew it! Fifty bucks, Specs! You said it'd never happen!'

'Well, no,' February said, 'they were just asleep. Up was sitting on one of the benches, and Taz was next to him, and her head was on his shoulder- oh-my-gosh-you-should-have-seen-how-cute-it-was…it's not really the same, but it looks like they like each other, huh?'

'Aw, _man!_' Krayonder said, disappointed, pulling fifty dollars out of his wallet and flicking them across the table towards Specs. 'Dammit! You're right though, man, it does mean there's somethin' goin' on. Betcha all another fifty they'll be dating by the end of the week…'

Bug turned away from him. 'If you wanna waste your money…' he muttered.

* * *

><p>Taz woke up with a stiff neck, and it was when she took in her position she realised why. Just as the sun was rising, Up and Taz had given up sparring and collapsed on a bench in exhaustion, falling asleep almost instantly. The Hispanic girl was leaning against the Commander's left side, head resting on his shoulder at quite an uncomfortable angle. Her eyes felt dry and sore- she couldn't have been asleep for more than an hour at most. She rubbed them and dragged herself into a sitting position.<p>

'Up?'

The man beside her jerked awake. 'Huh? Oh, Taz. What time is it?'

'_M__adrugada,'_ Taz replied, 'time jou were up.'

Up groaned and got to his feet. 'I gotta get to this damned reconstruction thing at 1100.'

Taz froze. '_Today?' _He nodded. 'So soon?'

'Space-Claw wants the first phase underway as soon as possible,' there were unmistakeable notes of apprehension, even fear in his voice- slight hints any other ranger may have missed- but not Taz. She reached out and put a hand on his arm.

'Hey.'

He gazed down at her expectantly.

'Jou got nothing to worry about, kay?'

Up smiled sadly. 'Is it…kinda soft to be, I dunno, scared, right now?'

Taz scoffed. 'Of course it is _soft.'_ He flinched slightly, looking hurt and she shook her head, grabbing hold of his shirt and pulling him down so her face was level with his, 'but I think…I would be too.'

The wistful smile returned as he straightened up. 'Thanks for waiting with me.'

She looked up at him, the beginnings of a genuine smile crossing her face. 'Get outta here, _idiota.'_

Taz watched his retreating back, trying to ignore the butterflies dancing about her insides. He was going to be fine. This wasn't even the risky one! She refused to allow herself to be weak enough to worry about him. She turned her thoughts to other matters- while Up was undergoing this reconstruction she would be in charge of the crew of 15A2. She would go find them and inform them of this- and at least then she would have something to do to take her mind off Up.

* * *

><p>'Now, Commander, this is a very simple process,' the doctor said, smiling across the medibay at Up.<p>

'I'll bet,' Up muttered, resentful of the patronising tone.

'The tissue has been genetically modified to your DNA, so it should end up exactly like the rest of you. All things going well, provided this little test works, we should be able to mostly recreate your right side to match your left- I say 'mostly'- there are some parts the tests can't reconstruct, like elbow, knee and shoulder joints…'

'Yeah, yeah, I know all this stuff,' Up snapped, his patience worn down by both his lack of sleep and his general objections to this experiment, 'Holden already told me. Are you gonna get this over with or not?'

Lying there just _waiting_ was the part that killed him. If he was going to be forced to do this damned thing, he just wanted it over with- successful or not. This part couldn't kill him anyway. He just wanted to be done with it already.

'Okay, Commander,' he felt an oxygen mask shoved down over his face, 'just breathe normally and count slowly to ten…'

'One, two…'Up began, 'uh, three…' everything felt blurry and heavy and he was gone before he could remember that four came after three.

* * *

><p>'Oh, <em>gran<em>, crew meeting I am not invited to,' Taz huffed, casting the rest of 15A2 an annoyed look as she threw herself down beside them. The others looked guiltily up at her- they had been busy gossiping about her and the Commander (well, mostly February and Krayonder had, with occasional input from Tootsie) when she'd stalked in, and now everyone was glancing frantically at Specs in the hope that she, as the smartest of them, might be able to invent a piece of news for Taz to get them out of trouble.

Bug was the first to actually speak. 'Not…a _meeting_, really, we just wanted to catch up, seeing as we're all over the place at HQ…'

'I did not want to, as you humans say, _catch up_,' Megagirl cut in, in her usual monotone, 'you humans mean nothing to me, except my husband Tootsie Megagirl…'

'Aw, honey,' Tootsie said, and nobody paid them any further attention.

'So, um…' Bug began, trying to think of something appropriate to say, and missing by a long shot, 'where's Up? We haven't seen him for ages.'

Taz froze for a minute, and a strange look flickered across her features before she hardened again. 'He is…in surgery,' she said after a moment's pause.

A cry of confusion rose up over the small group.

'What?'

'I didn't even know he was injured…'

Taz scowled them all into silence and gave them the full story. There was silence for a moment as each contemplated the situation.

'Well…what do we do?' Bug asked quietly afterwards.

'Nothing,' Taz replied. 'Nothing we can do right now. Is orders. He gets a job, he does it. He will be fine anyway. He is _fuerte_- he is one strong sonovabitch.'

'With all due respect,' Specs intervened, 'the chances of a mishap when all the odds have been tested are significantly low…'

The Hispanic girl glared at Specs' use of large words she didn't fully understand, but before she could issue any kind of reprimand, an obnoxious voice interrupted her.

'So what were you and Up doin' last night?'

Taz's shoulders tensed at Krayonder's question. The great moron didn't know when to stop, did he? She'd stabbed him, given him two black eyes and nearly broken his arm because of his determined stupidity, and he just didn't learn…

She couldn't kill him here. Too many witnesses.

Taz growled. 'What Up and I do is no business of jours.'

Krayonder muttered something to Bug, which sounded rather like _hey, she's being evasive, pay up,_ and, although not fully aware of his meaning, she was bunching her right hand into her fist when Bug intervened again.

'Maybe…we should all be there for Up when he comes out of the surgery…'

'He is not weak!' Taz snapped. 'He doesn't need any help…'

She couldn't help thinking, though, it may not be such a bad idea.

* * *

><p><strong>Big stuff will start happening soon. In the meantime, hope this was ok.<br>**


	6. An almost revelation

Up stared at his feet, astounded at how identical they looked. This cloning stuff was pretty good when it came to the aesthetics. He might even have had the energy to be happy with the result, if it weren't for the pain.

This was sheer torture. He couldn't remember an agony so intense since…his famous injury. He shuddered at the traumatising, all-too-clear memory of being cut in two, and the action sent a jab of pain through his new limb.

The doctors had told him it would play up for at least the first couple of weeks- alternating between excessive pain and no feeling at all, and it might take longer before he was fully used to it. The operation itself had taken over six hours to complete, even with most of the tissue already constructed and ready, and they'd injected the leg with blood and adrenaline, and given him copious amounts of both to last him the rest of the week. He'd taken drugs that people with transplants took to stop their bodies rejecting the organs, and he'd taken drugs to keep the pain at bay. He was literally a walking chemist's shop.

Up groaned loudly, shutting his eyes tightly and trying to think of something- anything- to take his mind off it. Reaching across to his bedside table he grabbed his remote control and switched on the TV. The menu of 'the Karate Kid' flickered onto the screen, the DVD still in the player from when he and Taz had watched it yet again a couple of days ago. That might help- he'd been stuck alone in here for three hours in pain, and he knew, despite getting virtually none last night that the chances of sleep were pretty slim.

He sat up against the back of the sofa, swearing at the effect this had on his new limb. Yeah, there wasn't much chance of sleep coming.

* * *

><p>Taz hadn't dared go and see Up since he'd come out of the reconstruction. She'd immersed herself in her work, barking orders at her crew, frightening the new recruits into line and keeping her attention squarely focused on the couple of seminars the lieutenants were required to attend. Taz already knew more about using the new weaponry than any of the speakers, but anything was better than worrying and looking weak.<p>

By mid-afternoon she'd cracked, and demanded to General Holden, in her most threatening manner, to be updated as to Up's current situation. She was told simply that the Commander was still undergoing the surgery and he was too busy to answer all her questions- Space-Claw was arranging a memorial for Junior to take place tomorrow and he had to oversee the preparations.

It was past nine now, Up was in his room and Taz was losing an internal battle over whether or not she should remain aloof. She was tough, and really it didn't concern…

Oh, who was she kidding? She could hide her feelings for Up from everyone else, but not herself- she had to at least see how the reconstruction turned out. He wouldn't think anything of it- she was just a friend visiting a friend. Surely there wasn't any harm in that?

With that in mind she started through the corridors, toward the Commanders' area. She heard his cry of pain before she'd come within ten feet of his door.

A wave of unwanted panic shot through Taz. The crew of 15A2 had gone to the medibay to see how he was when he was first released, but had been shooed away and told he was fine but needed to be left alone. Taz at least knew the operation had been successful, but not having seen him all day, she didn't know what to expect or do.

Taz stopped outside the door, unsure whether to go in or not. Sounded like he had the TV on from the faint buzzing noises within. Up groaned again, and Taz jumped a little in spite of herself, accidentally knocking her elbow quite hard against the wall. There was silence from inside the room, followed by a shuffling sound and she froze.

* * *

><p>Up stopped groaning for a moment, grinding his teeth together against the pain as he listened. There was definitely someone out there.<p>

'Who's out there?' he called, reaching out to grab hold of the remote control and flick the film on pause. ' Don't just hang around.'

The door slid away to reveal Taz standing in the doorway, trying to hide a look of concern.

'Jour wailing is keepin' de whole damn place awake,' she said gruffly, stomping across the room and throwing herself down next to him, arms folded.

'Sorry,' he muttered. 'Can't have any more painkillers for another three hours, but it still hurts like hell- I know, I know,' he raised his hands at the Lieutenant's raised eyebrow, 'it's not tough ter say that, but…'

'Don't be _estupido_,' Taz said. 'I told jou to be tough, not to be a damned superhero.'

Up smiled in relief, then winced as the pain shot through his leg again.

Taz frowned, then moved a little closer, eyes darting involuntarily to his shirtless form, taking in his human left side and gleaming silver right.

She'd never seen his robot side exposed before- she couldn't help being mildly curious- and fascinated by the shining metal, sculpted into biceps and pectorals like he was wearing perfectly fitted armour on one side.

Up noticed her staring. 'Scares ya, don't it?'

'Actually, no, not half as much as I thought it would,' the Hispanic girl admitted, tentatively reaching out a hand to touch, '-jou don't mind…?'

'Naw, go ahead.'

Taz ran her fingers along his robot shoulder. The consistency reminded her of aluminium or something similar, only stronger and much more durable.

'Scares _me_, and I gotta live with it,' Up said absently. 'Or at least put up with it 'til the second reconstruction.'

Taz hummed. _The second reconstruction. The dangerous one. _She didn't want to think about that. _Still, the first one's fine so far…maybe he won't…_

'How's de leg?' she asked at length, trying to banish the mental image of Up not waking from surgery. It wouldn't happen. This was all going swimmingly- better than they'd planned, or so she'd heard.

'Painful,' he responded immediately, but then added, 'but I can take it. Y'know, you forget how many darned nerve endings you got when you don't have 'em…'

'Jou were one tough sonovabitch to go through wid it.'

'Didn't have much of a choice, Taz,' the Commander protested, but he turned his face to hide the smile creeping across it. Seemed like Taz's disappointment in him had disappeared completely. For the past few weeks he'd been working just that little bit harder to impress his little friend and keep that newfound trust she had in him- but the fact that she still thought him tough when he was all but writhing in agony sufficiently boosted his self-esteem.

He considered telling her he liked her for a moment, but then, looking at her sitting beside him, thought the better of it. It still wasn't that long ago that he'd got his best friend back- shouldn't jeopardise that by taking it any further. Not yet, anyway, not when he still wasn't sure what she thought.

'What jou watching?' Taz had gotten hold of the remote control and pressed 'play', smirking as Jackie Chan appeared on the screen. '_Again_?'

'Thought it might take my mind off everything.'

'Don't jou ever watch anything else?'

Up noticed the hint of jest in her voice. He'd always loved it when she teased him. 'Well, _you_ can talk!' He knew she'd seen it just as many times- if not more.

Taz shrugged and settled down beside him, resting her head against the wall. They watched the movie, both determinedly staring at the screen and steeling their resolve not to steal glances at each other. Occasionally they'd start up what couldn't really be called a conversation- exchanging one or two disjointed sentences whenever Up suffered a particularly unbearable wave of pain in an attempt to distract him. The time ticked by, and long after the credits were done and dusted, Up and Taz were still looking at the TV, eyes watering from staying focused on nothing.

Taz could feel her eyelids drooping, and she struggled into a proper sitting position.

'Is getting late.' She helped him across the room to his bed and turned to leave, muttering a 'goodnight.'

She felt his hand on her arm. 'Aw, Taz, you don't wanna go wakin' up all the little sleepyheads now…you might as well just…' he suddenly sounded shy, 'stay here, if you want…'

The Hispanic girl rolled her eyes. 'Do jou _want_ me to stay, Up?' she couldn't stand hints.

'Oh, no, you don't have…well, yeah.'

Taz sighed. 'Fine then, move over.'

Unable to believe his luck, Up obediently slid across to the other side of the bed, moving his newly-reconstructed leg carefully and shutting his eyes as it screamed in protest. It had been okay, watching 'the Karate Kid' with Taz- having her there helped him forget it and tune it down to a background ache, but the thought of the long, lonely night had caused it to flare up in full force. He didn't think he could have made it without her there- something about Taz relaxed him- despite the fact that she generally wasn't seen as a calming influence.

Taz turned out the light and lay back against the pillows, yawning and shutting her eyes.

'Taz…?' in the dark he might as well be alone. He wanted to hear her voice- have some reminder she was there.

'Ssh. _Callar_ now. Sleep.'

A pause. 'I can't.'

'_Try_,' Taz growled. 'We gotta be up early tomorrow for Hunior's memorial service.'

'For what?'

She growled again. 'Some _estupido _funeral for dat _cabron._ Never mind about it now.'

The cessation of Taz's voice suddenly left Up feeling sore. When he concentrated on her, his brain could keep tabs on the pain, but when she stopped talking…he needed to hear her speak again.

Taz was slipping out of consciousness, the sound of Up's voice lulling her the way hers did for him. There was another silence, and she almost drifted completely out…

'Did we take the movie out when we were done with it?' it was the first thing that came to mind, and a pathetic attempt to stall that left him looking a bit obsessive-compulsive.

'_Buenos noches,_ Up,' she said firmly.

'I dunno, maybe if you could just go check…'

There was a muffled thump as Taz hit him with a pillow.

* * *

><p>Up lay on his left side, trying to keep his right leg still, teeth clenched and grinding them every so often to stop himself yelling out. On the other side of the bed, Taz was sleeping, her back to him, the silhouette of her shoulders rising and falling visible through the faint light coming in from the window.<p>

He gazed at her outline through the darkness, calmed somewhat by the sight and sound of her steady breathing. His eyes felt dry and sore, but try as he might, sleep just wasn't coming tonight- not with the excruciating reconstruction constantly coming back to cloud his head. He gave up trying and focused on the slumbering figure beside him. Up counted each breath she took, treating the rhythmic sound like a mantra.

_In…out…in…out…innnzzzzzzzz…_

* * *

><p>The Commander woke with a start, unaware he'd even been asleep until the strangled yelp forced its way out from his throat and caused him to sit bolt upright. Wincing and laying back down, Up looked over at his clock.<p>

04:37

Something shifted next to him, and he frowned in confusion before remembering.

Taz.

His agonised cry might have woken her. He craned his neck to check, but Taz's breathing remained even. Up settled against the pillows, concentrating once again on the rise and fall of her shoulders. Something was different this time, he thought as he started to drift off again…

It was just as his last shred of conscious thought floated away from him and he felt the light brush of fingers against his arm that he realised what it was.

Taz was facing him.

* * *

><p>The second time Up awoke, his clock read 05:49. His alarm would be going off any minute- he might as well get up now. Up flexed his toes- his right leg felt oddly numb, like it had gone to sleep the way limbs did after severe cases of pins and needles. He'd forgotten that feeling, but it might help him get through the service today. The pain had receded into a dull ache, and while he had no doubt it would return later, he could make the most of its absence now.<p>

The Commander opened his eyes, stretching his arms up over his head and surveying himself. He was lying on his back, his numb reconstructed leg hanging over the edge, and as he moved to sit up something stirred and he remembered for the second time that Taz was here. _Well_, Up thought, _that'd explain why I only got about an inch o' the whole bed, anyway._ His pain seemed to have brought out the very deeply hidden caring side of the Hispanic girl, as was obvious from the fact that his head was now cradled in her arms.

The beginnings of sunlight fell through the window and onto her face, and Up suddenly felt a surge of appreciation for the fact that they were back at home base, and he was privileged to have a window. In the early morning light, carefree and asleep, Taz's face took on an almost childlike quality, peaceful and less…vicious- less like the tough, energetic Taz that charged about during the day. It was a side of her he rarely saw any more, and he missed it. It had been at least three years since she'd stayed with him after they'd watched a movie, even longer since she'd let her inhibitions go enough to cuddle him or allow herself to be cuddled.

It was nice to know she still cared about him- as a friend, at least- enough to subconsciously want to comfort him when he was in pain. Made a change from punching him in the face for being 'soft' or shouting at him for crying. He knew she would never be like this intentionally. She had a reputation as a tough, unfeeling, ballsy ranger and she wouldn't let go of that for anything.

Oh, how he wished she would sometimes, though. He wished she would show him some intentional sign that she did care. Just a little gesture, maybe. It was too much to hope for that she might like him the way he liked her- that would be too optimistic.

Up arched his neck slightly to check the clock and Taz shifted closer, frowning slightly in her sleep, her hand detaching from the back of his head and grabbing hold of his shoulder. It really did seem as if, in her dreams, his little friend was trying to protect him, soothe him when she thought he was troubled. Did that mean, just maybe, she…

No, he could not start leaping to conclusions. He could not allow himself to think that, just because she, as his best friend of eight years, couldn't bear to see him suffer, that there might be a tiny chance she liked him as much as he liked her. He could not let her know, could not even reach up and place a little kiss on her forehead. The idiocy of that action alone spoke for itself- it was common knowledge you never told a girl you liked her-not to mention the fact that she would most likely kill him.

Taz's eyelids started to twitch and Up's muscles all locked together. He didn't dare move. Taz was the sort of person who, once realising she'd done one of those fabled things she said she'd never do in her life- showing her weaker side- would instantly fly into a rage and blame (or stab) the other party. Who in this case happened to be him.

'Uh…hey,' he ventured. Taz said nothing, her eyes widening. She appeared to be in some sort of shock, her arms remained around his neck and she tensed. There was an awkward moment of silence.

'Jou still in pain?' she asked, her voice somewhat stilted. He shook his head.

'Good.'

Up hesitated. 'Uh…thanks, for, ah…well, you know. Helpin' an' all that.'

A very slight smile crossed her face. '_De nada,'_ she muttered. She made no effort to remove her arms, and for a moment Up's mind rebelliously suggested that this would be a good time to move his head a little closer, to kiss her. No, he couldn't- she'd murder him, he tried to tell himself, but he wasn't listening to his conscience, not when he was foolishly interpreting her subconscious comfort as a sign she might like him, not when she was right in front of him and they were alone and no-one would know, and it would be so easy...

_Beepbeepbeepbeepbeep_

The alarm couldn't have come at a better- or worse- time for Up, and a mixture of relief and disappointment washed over him as Taz sat up and slid away from him, relief that he hadn't done something that would have earned him a punch in the face at the very least, disappointment that he might never get a chance like that again. Every time he considered admitting his feelings to Taz he chickened out and he always regretted that, but at the same time he could never be entirely sure it was the right thing…

'We'd better get to dis stupid Hunior thing- jou OK to walk?'

Up was snatched out of his thoughts. He attempted to flex his foot and found he still couldn't feel anything.

'Think so,' he heaved himself off the bed and stood up, only to have his leg collapse beneath him.

'Um, Taz?' he called from the floor, 'little help?'

* * *

><p><strong>Another sort of filler one, but I wanted to put in some bits about how Up was suffering and needed Taz, because that will be neceessary later. Important stuff revealed next chapter, promise. I will probably rewrite this again, because I'm still not happy with it.<strong>


	7. Musings and missions

**I'm sorry about the constant annoying interruptions in this story- unfortunately there may be a few more, but I shall try to cut down XD**

**In a few weeks time I have my finals/HSC, which means I will need to be studying very hard, and thus updates will be sporadic. I have already written chapter 8 and most of 9, which I hope to get up some time this month, but if apart from those if there is a lack of updates, well, that will be why.**

**Anyway, here's chapter 7. Some stuff actually starts to happen now. Enjoy.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>'Ten-hut!'<p>

Doctor Space-Claw observed his son's funeral from his balcony, breathing heavily through the mouthpiece of his helmet. Rows of identically dressed starship rangers stood like statues, saluting the coffin as it was carried out across the courtyard, and as one of the Generals began a speech.

Beside him, his new wife sobbed into her handkerchief.

'Oh, he was such a sweet boy!' she sniffled, 'Even though I never actually met him, except over the phone, I loved him like he was my own son!'

Space-Claw was beginning to wonder if marrying a person you'd met online was such a brilliant idea after all. The woman's chirpy personality was a constant hindrance to his evil plans.

Doctor Space-Claw was not an ignorant man. He knew precisely what his son was up to on 15A2's last mission; he'd given the go-ahead for everything. Experimenting with bug-human hybrids had been his obsession for several months now- anything to make a human better, more advanced was considered, and he'd tried out many of his experiments on himself. The loss of his son was not particularly upsetting to a man with such lofty, obsessive ambitions- but he had been a valuable pawn in Space-Claw's grand schemes, and feigned affection was vital to ensure the trust of the G.L.E.E. As far as they were concerned, he was a devoted, if somewhat eccentric father, concerned for his son's strange fetishes and marijuana addiction.

No-one had been clever enough- or perceptive enough- to see the truth- that most of Junior's doings were his bidding and not the pot, and all done in an attempt to cover up Space-Claw's other, vastly more evil plot. He'd been working on this since the robot war officially ended, but as it drew ever closer to completion he needed more and more distractions. It was important the G.L.E.E didn't suspect him- that the truth remained a secret until the last minute. From within, and in control of the League, he had a much better chance of bringing his plans to fruition.

And no-one had ever questioned the stories they were spoon-fed about Junior- until now.

Of course, it had to be Commander Up who caught on. Worse, both him _and_ Lieutenant Taz- the two best rangers in the galaxy- suspected him, and if the two of them started to oppose him he'd have no chance. The others would undoubtedly follow their lead- whether it be from reputation, fear or experience working with them nearly all the rangers had developed a self-sacrificing respect for them, and would follow them in battle to the death.

Both were on their way to becoming very serious problems for Doctor Space-Claw. On their own they were tougher than entire armies combined- not even being sawn in half had kept Commander Up down for ever- now he was back to his old self almost as though nothing had happened. Combined they were practically indestructible.

Space-Claw had come to the conclusion that his only option was to get rid of them. Get them out the way- but in a manner that could, and would, be interpreted by the rest of the G.L.E.E as an accident.

He'd already begun to formulate Commander Up's downfall. It was brilliant- the first reconstruction had been completed and he'd lulled everyone into a false sense of security. If stage two, well, didn't go according to 'plan', and there was every chance that it wouldn't, considering the enormous risks involved, everyone would chalk it down to an accident of science.

There was no doubt about it; Space-Claw was a diabolical mastermind. And one day he'd brag about that.

* * *

><p>The weeks passed fairly uneventfully. Up's leg seemed to be healing according to the doctors' specifications. With each passing day the pain dulled, he found he had better control over it, and although it still had the habit of losing all feeling and collapsing every now and then, he was almost completely used to walking, running and kicking with it. Taz hovered closely by him whenever he seemed to have difficulty, supporting him on those occasions when it collapsed, and maybe it was just Up's imagination, but since that awkward morning a few weeks ago, her grasp on his arm was just that little bit more gentle, her tone of voice more sincere when she spoke to him. Of course, he couldn't be sure. He couldn't base his judgement on one incident- particularly an incident during which the person in question was unaware of what she was doing.<p>

Every so often Taz would catch Up staring at her, a strange, faraway look in his eyes, and she wondered just exactly what he was thinking. She wondered if he was remembering _oh, mierda,_ he couldn't be remembering that _embarazoso_ incident the other morning…she should have known it all felt too real to be a dream; should have restrained herself. In her only slightly conscious, just-waking state, she'd allowed herself to respond to her feelings, and it was only when Up's alarm had shattered her dream she'd realised she'd carried some of her intrinsic desires over into real life.

She'd tried to pretend it hadn't happened after that. She'd treated it merely as something she'd been completely unaware of doing, changing the subject as quickly as possible. She'd almost let her true feelings show, like an _estúpido_ infatuated teenager. She couldn't do that. She resolved that day to be more careful- but it wasn't long before her feelings got the better of her.

* * *

><p>Something strange hit her not long after she had made this promise to herself. It was turning out to be an ordinary day- Up and Taz walking down to lunch together, and Taz watching him closely in case he needed her help. She could have left him to fend for himself at least two weeks ago- Up rarely experienced trouble with his leg any more, but somehow she couldn't bring herself to detach herself from his side.<p>

They had almost reached the mess hall when Up abruptly stopped, turning and putting one hand on each of her shoulders.

Most people wouldn't dare risk touching Taz, but she and Up were friends- they were there, they'd reached that stage long ago. She didn't try to hurt him, as she normally would have done. She had to keep her tough persona showing, though, so she scowled.

'_What?'_

'Taz, look, you've been doin' a lot for me lately, and, well I just wanted to say…' Up paused, as if debating about saying something and changing his mind at the last minute. 'Well…thanks. I appreciate it.'

Taz smiled just a little, the words nearly slipping off her tongue before she caught herself. For a moment she considered just giving in and telling him that she l- no, she couldn't do that. If he didn't feel the same way, she'd just be making an _idiota_ of herself in front of him. She would never give him that satisfaction. Still, they were alone, and she'd almost just gritted her teeth and done it- when would she ever get the chance again…

'Commander!'

_Mierda._ So much for that idea. Both turned to face the approaching Krayonder.

'Holden was lookin' for you- both of you, he needs to see you in his office. I think it might be urgent.'

Taz and Up exchanged glances. _Urgent?_

* * *

><p>Taz was muttering dirty words under her breath as the crew of 15A2 approached the crumbling building, zappers raised. Damn Holden and his <em>estupido<em> orders. She'd had a full schedule for today- working out, training recruits, sparring with Up, and now she was stuck on some lifeless planet, preparing to invade a precariously dilapidated stone building vacated some two hundred years ago because there _might possibly_ be a handful of robots somewhere in there. Taz agreed with the General on principle- stamp out any threat of a robot war reprise as soon as it appears- but why he'd needed the crew of _two_ starships to man such a simple mission. Boy, he was getting over-the-top these days.

Alongside her, the members of Starship 17G5 glanced around, zappers at the ready. Taz rolled her eyes as Lieutenant Criss strutted past, his weapon hanging idly from his hand. She just didn't understand how an _idiota_ like that ever made Lieutenant. Beside her, Commander Crawford was muttering away into his communications device.

'Yes, sir, we've reached the location…no, we haven't yet entered the building…'

She felt a strong desire to punch him in the face. Crawford always seemed to take control of every mission the two starships did together, despite the fact that Up was a far more qualified- and competent- commander. And he would never sit there grovelling into his phone when there was a job to be done.

'Is he done yet?' Up murmured, crouched on her other side. 'We gotta get this over with.'

Taz tutted in sympathy. 'Sometimes I just wanna tear the _estupido _cap from off his head and choke him wid it.'

Up chuckled, and Taz swatted at him. 'How's de leg holding up?'

'Not too bad- let's hope it doesn't decide to play up just as we find the damn robots.' He hesitated, looking over at Crawford again. 'Ah, screw it. I'm taking you guys in now regardless.'

Up stood. 'Okay, let's get this done. Once we get inside we'll split up- Lieutenants, search the east wing. Krayonder, Specs, Lang- the east. Crawford and myself'll go to the top floor to see if they left anything important behind. Tootsie, stay behind with Megagirl- I don't think this mission's really gonna be her cup of tea. Everyone else, get into pairs and let's go kill some robots.'

Taz admired the masterful way he delivered his instructions- it brought back fond memories of those pre-famous-injury missions, before he'd become soft. 'Hell yeah!' she shouted, hoisting her zapper over her shoulder and following the large group, as they moved toward the ruins, a very disgruntled Crawford following.

* * *

><p>Up stepped through the archway with caution, treading carefully on the narrow bridge. He didn't trust the foundations of this building, or this bridge at all, and if they didn't watch themselves, they could end up in the deep crevasse below. He held a small device out in front of him, which emitted soft <em>blip<em> noises as it scanned for signs of robots. This shouldn't be too hard. There were fifteen of them, and from what Holden had outlined, the few surviving locals had only complained of two or three robot-like shapes in the vicinity.

As he stepped off the bridge, planting his feet on (slightly) more solid ground, Up felt the first tremor run up his leg.

_Oh, damn. Don't do this to me. Not in the middle of a mission._

Up winced, and noticed Taz look over her shoulder at him, eyebrows raised. He shook his head and gritted his teeth, ignoring the strange sensation in his reconstructed limb. He didn't care if it fledged into bone-splitting pain, he didn't care if it fell off, he was not going to blow this.

* * *

><p>Taz stood, feet apart, zapper shoulder-level, glaring at the doorway. Almost two hours in, scouring the building from top to tail and finding nothing, and she was getting restless. It had been an almost welcome change from the monotonous task when the robotic buzzing and clicking had sounded from the next room.<p>

'Okay, _idiota_,' she told Criss, who was busy fixing his hair, 'when I say de word, we shoot de _bastardos_ as dey come through de door- got it?'

'Sure,' Criss murmured, pulling his weapon lazily out of his pocket.

The clomp of metallic footsteps was coming closer. Taz bounced lightly on the balls of her feet, shutting one eye and taking aim. The footsteps had reached the door, as it began to creak she pressed her index finger to the trigger, preparing to squeeze it…

BANG!

A ball of fire erupted from the end of Criss's weapon, hitting the robot squarely in the chest as it entered and sending it flying across the room and into a pillar.

Taz's eyes were wide. 'Jou _estupido_, moronic _hijo de puta!_ Dat was a _flare!' _ She struck him across the head with the back of her hand. 'Now look what jou've done!'

The force of the two-ton metal monster crashing into it had demolished the pillar, sending a good portion of the roof crashing down on it.

The ruins shuddered and shook, the floor a few feet away from them caving in.

Criss looked up as the foundations of the building began to tremble. 'We gotta get outta here. This place could collapse any second.' As if on cue, a shower of rubble rained down from somewhere above them.

Taz hated to abandon the place, especially when there could be robots down there- robots she could, nay _must _kill brutally, but he was right. In setting off that flare, the moron had managed to destroy whatever shreds of stability the ruin had left. _Idiota._ She was going to have words with Holden when they got back about having Criss fired- that is, if she didn't kill him first.

'Pull back!' she shouted. A few hundred yards away, Crawford turned, taking in the destruction around them.

The floor beneath their feet was beginning to feel unsteady, and Taz could have sworn if she stomped hard enough it would crumble under their feet. Crawford nodded.

'You heard her! Get out! Forget the robots, just go!'

They ran for it, abandoning the robots and charging for the bridge, each only feeling safe to breathe once they'd crossed the archway and were standing on firm, solid ground once more.

'Okay, people, let's move!' Crawford was shouting, counting off his team as they sprinted past. Taz mentally ticked off Tootsie, Bug, February, Krayonder and, wait…not there was Specs, as they followed suit, but something, she couldn't help thinking, was terribly wrong. Commander Crawford's orders were still ringing through the air; where were Up's? She strained her ears, hoping to pick up his surly voice as it barked similar commands, but she found nothing.

_Where was Up?_

'Taz, look!' that was Criss's voice. She followed his gaze, and swore loudly when she saw what he was looking at. The bridge had collapsed into the abyss below, and Up was on the other side of it.

* * *

><p><strong>Not much actual TUp in that one, but I promise you a LOT more in the next chapter. I know there will be, because it's already done.<strong>

**Yeah, this mission they're on is a bit annoying, but it will have a purpose.**


	8. Not permitted to touch

**Thanks for all the kind reviews! And son, happy belated birthday!Also, in answer to your question, Crawford is not a starkid, this character is named after Chace Crawford, to annoy my kid sister who is in love with him. XD**

**Well, I'm back from study camp, so I thought before I study at home I may post this. I've finished ch9, so you may get it in the next 2 weeks but I don't wanna put it up til I've finished writing Ch10 (I like to be ahead of schedule lol) so once again, sporadic updates. Hope this'll tide you over til then.**

* * *

><p>'<em>IDIOTA!'<em> GET BACK HERE NOW!' Taz shouted across the gap, despite the fact that this course of action was downright impossible for Up. The Commander yelled something she didn't catch, and Taz made an infuriated noise.

'Do I have to do _everything_ round here?' she turned around, frantically trying to sketch up a plan. 'Out of my way!'

She pushed through the group of unhelpful rangers- not one of them even _trying_ to suggest anything useful- halting before Megagirl.

'What are you doing, you strange hu-man?' Megagirl asked in a monotone as Taz grabbed hold of her, detaching the panel from her back.

'What are ya doin' to my wifey?' Tootsie cried in alarm. Taz violently brushed off his feeble attempts to stop her.

'Be quiet, _idiota._ I am not killing her- _not yet, anyway,'_ she added under her breath. Taz knew what she was doing. As part of her Lieutenant training, back in the day, she'd taken an extra course in robotics, learning about every weapon stored inside the metal bodies of Megagirl units, and thus how to counter their every tactic.

Taz knew exactly what she was looking for as she rooted around in Megagirl's control panel. Flicking a switch, the robot's hand dropped down, a long, deadly-looking harpoon emerging from the end.

'Give me back control of my body, human,' Megagirl insisted, but Taz took no notice. Pulling another lever, the robot's arm elevated, and when Taz released the catch the harpoon flew from Megagirl's hand, shooting into the archway and embedding itself in the plaster.

Taz whipped out her knife and hacked at the cable extending from Megagirl to the harpoon, separating the two and tugging the end to make sure it was firmly stuck in its notch.

'Are you crazy?' Crawford yelled as she gripped the cable, but she took no notice. Taking a deep breath, she stepped back, then jumped forward and swung across the gap.

* * *

><p>Up gaped as Taz landed in front of him, glaring daggers and ranting.<p>

'_Dis is de stupidest mission!_ What de hell do jou tink jou are doing?'

Up, leaning against a pillar he wasn't sure would support him, shook his head.

'My leg gave out, Taz, I couldn't make it…'

She scrutinised him. 'How is it now? Can jou stand on it?'

He tried. 'The feelin's…kinda comin' back, but…'

'Good,' she interrupted, thrusting the cable at him. 'Take dis and get back to de others. Throw it back to me.'

Up looked at the gap, then at the harpoon, already looking a little looser in the archway. 'There's no way that's gonna hold for two trips. Just go back, Taz, leave me!'

Taz's heart stopped for a second. No way, there was_ no way_ she was going to leave him behind. Had it been some pathetic little ensign, she would have had no qualms about abandoning them in a desperate situation, but this was Up, this was the best damned Commander the G.L.E.E. had, who was too valuable to lose, this was the man she- _no, don't go there. _

' There's no other way out! Jou are _not_ dying for nothing!' she grabbed him roughly, flinging her arms around him and clinging onto the cable. 'If jou won't go across, I will have to force jou.'

'Taz, just leave me!' Up insisted again.

'Jou don't get a choice, _idiota_!' still clutching both him and the rope, she staggered towards the edge. Up seemed to weigh a ton, and he wasn't co-operating. 'Hold onto de rope,' she snapped, 'or we'll _both_ die for nothing! I can't support jour full weight!'

Up hesitated, then reached up and gripped the cable with one hand, the other still resting against the wall. The harpoon shook a little in its notch. Up leaned more heavily on the wall, looking sceptically up at the hook and the one thin rope.

'It won't hold, Taz…'

'De hell it won't! _Hold on!'_ Taz inched toward the edge, positioning herself so her back was to the gap, Up facing it, and put out one hand to steady herself on the pillar.

'When I say de word, let go of de wall and put jour weight on me ,' she instructed, calculating.

Up gave her a quizzical look but readied himself. 'If you don't leave me we're both gonna fa-'

'I'm not gonna leave jou!' She stared at Up with a flicker of emotion he couldn't quite work out. 'Now!' Taz kicked at the pillar, pushing off from it with all her strength as Up let go of the wall and clung to her, and the combined force sent them swinging out across the expanse of nothingness.

* * *

><p>Everything happened in less than three seconds, but it still seemed to take forever, like one of those cheap twentieth-century movies with their slow-motion scenes, Taz thought.<p>

She wrapped her limbs around Up, clinging to the cable and shutting her eyes as she felt the air rush past her, felt a yanking as the archway started to give…

…and then something got hold of her leg, dragging them both backwards. Taz felt the firm thud of the ground beneath her. She opened her eyes to see the rest of the rangers standing round them, gazing with surprised admiration.

'Damned bravados,' Lieutenant Criss said, 'we're never gonna beat you guys, are we?'

Taz smiled in spite of herself, suddenly proud- she _had_ just pulled off an impressive rescue, and together she and Up had gotten yet another risky job done. They'd all be talking about this one for a while.

'Taz! Up! I thought you guys were goners for sure!' Taz let out a sharp breath as February caught her in a tight hug. She attempted to raise her arms to fling the schience officer away, but rescuing people was exhausting work.

'_Estupido _girl,' she grumbled.

The minute February let go Taz wished she _had_ thrown her off. One moment of unplanned weakness and all of a sudden everyone thought she was loveable. She fell victim to Tootsie next.

'Oh, ma'am, you sure were brave out there…'

'Get _off_! Jou are _not permitted to touch!'_ Taz screeched, making a bid for freedom.

In the distance, the booming sound and rumbling told them the remains of the building had disintegrated. Commander Crawford sighed 'Well, that's the end of the robots, anyway. I'd like to see 'em get out of that one.' He turned to the rangers.

'Okay, people, let's pack it up! Tootsie Megagirl, unhand the Lieutenant, we need to get back to the ship!'

Taz sighed with relief as the small group started back towards their respective starships. Turning to join them, she promptly had to suppress an annoyed shriek as a pair of arms grabbed her round the waist and lifted her up.

' Saved my sorry ass back there, Lieutenant,' Up said, his chin on her shoulder. Her feet dangled about two feet from the ground.

'Wouldn't be de first time, jou _idiota_,' Taz replied. She rolled her eyes, kicking feebly at him and trying to pry his arms off of her but secretly not minding. She liked the feeling of Up's arms around her, even if it was just a gesture of thanks, of friendship. _Although_, she thought, from the looks and comments he had given her over the past few weeks, perhaps it wasn't. Everything was getting confusing. She'd seen enough signs to prove he definitely thought highly of her- but then he always had, and she couldn't bring herself to go that extra mile and ascertain whether he liked her in _that_ way.

'Jou saved mine from de _cucarachas_, no? So we're even, I guess.'

'Yeah, but in doin' that, _you _helped _me,_' Up insisted, 'otherwise I mighta still been stuck as a damned soft pussycat for the rest o' my life. I still owe you one.'

Taz smirked, twisting round in his arms so she was facing him. 'I'm sure jou'll soon fix dat. Jou always do. I'll probably end up near dead and jou'll save my life. AGAIN. '

'Just like the old times,' Up grinned.

The look in her eyes and the tone in her voice had told Up what he wanted to hear. There was more than a hint of flirtation in that last remark…at least he thought there was. He couldn't be sure…

'And speakin' of the old times,' he rolled his eyes back and forth, 'hmm…our usual? Karate Kid in my room?'

Taz tutted, but her eyes were still smiling. 'And since when did dat ever count as anything, _hombre? _Jou got no _imaginación_- I rescue jou from death, and all jou do is watch de same damn...'

'It wasn't meant to count as anythin',' he cut her off, suddenly nervous. 'I just wanted to ask. Completely unrelated.'

'De last time I agreed to dat, jou acted like a _bebe grande_ and I wasn't allowed to leave!'

'You invited yourself, that time, remember? And you didn't seem to mind, considerin'...'

Taz suddenly froze, looking down in a failed attempt to hide the embarrassing blush that had suddenly appeared on her face as she remembered. What an _idiota _she'd been.

Up noticed her tensing. 'Hey, I'm not complainin',' he grinned, setting her down and striding to catch up with the others. Taz hastened to do likewise, walking alongside Up as though nothing had happened. She wasn't exactly sure what the hell had just happened then but it certainly threw everything off balance. She'd tried so hard to hide her feelings for Up, and then she'd gone and nearly killed herself getting him safely back again. It was _muy estupido, _it was softer than a marshmallow- and she was tough. She couldn't get all soppy like that, whether she liked him or not.

She said nothing on the walk back to the starship, bar a few shouts to the other members of her crew, bellowing at Krayonder and Lieutenant Criss to stop chatting and ogling Specs and to get a move on. It wasn't til they were boarding that Up acknowledged her again, giving a slight 'after you' gesture as she stepped through. She paused, turning to narrow her eyes at him and he winked, so slightly she wasn't sure if she'd imagined it.

It took a lot of effort on Taz's part to walk calmly and purposefully through the hatch and onto the command deck. She was unsure how to respond or what to think. She must have imagined it- that _couldn't_ have been right.

_But…but…he doesn't think about me in dat way…he thinks of me as…an _amigo _or_ _a _hermana menor…

'Okay, boys and girls, we're headin' home,' Up's 'commander-voice' rang out across the deck and Taz took up her position with her usual vigour. She couldn't let anyone know she was getting all worked up because Up may or may not have winked at her. _And probably not_, she forced herself to think.

The other rangers were chatting away as they prepared for the takeoff, but Taz's mind was still reeling. If she had imagined it, she'd better set about getting back to her old self before anyone realised she was constantly zoning out. And if she hadn't…Taz gulped. That was what she'd wanted, hoped for, dreamt about…and it was making her nervous. If she hadn't imagined it, it meant, well, maybe he did think about her in that way…but then what was she going to do about that? Let it happen? What would General Holden say? What would they all say?

She had no idea what happened next, and Taz hated not being in control of the situation.

* * *

><p>It was always the same when Taz did something heroic- the immediate aftermath resulted in every starship ranger in a five mile radius suddenly wanting to be her friend. She was congratulated more times than she cared to count, and she hated it. How was she supposed to maintain a fearsome reputation if everyone kept acting like <em>this<em>? She'd found herself accepting February's invitation and retreating to the bar with her just to be able to hear herself think. Now here she was, easily tuning out the chatter of the blonde girl beside her, and trying not to think too much about the fact that Up was standing not eight feet away from her. She hadn't seen him since they'd gotten back from the mission; hadn't had an opportunity to speak to him or confront him about their little…_situation_ earlier.

Taz's hand was curled around her glass, and she rested one arm casually on the top of the bar, pretending to drink and watching. Krayonder and Bug were on either side of the Commander, and although he seemed to be smiling and nodding at whatever they were saying, every so often his eyes would flicker towards her. The swirling emotion in those blue irises startled her, and though she would never admit it she was fearfully anxious about what it all might mean. He had very obviously flirted with her back on that mission- should she act on that? Should she make the first move, or let him? If she initiated something, that would keep her in control- but would it make her look weak?

Up glanced at her again, and all thoughts momentarily left her head.

Taz had to lean against the bar to keep her balance. The feeling each time their eyes met was electrifying to the point of frightening her. February continued to chatter beside her, but Taz wasn't registering any of it. She was concentrating on what might happen if she could _hold _that look next time. Every glance seemed to hit a nerve in her mind, like an ESP message.

_I like you. I'm looking at you because I know you know that. You know, and you like me back. But I'm not going to say anything._

She had to be careful, though, she reminded herself. She could be overreacting about the whole thing.

Up was side-on from her now, nodding and half-laughing at something Bug had said. Keeping her head in the same position, she raised her eyes, fixing her stare. Up's eyes flickered towards her again.

Blue collided with brown, and her heart started to race. Up's eyes stayed locked with hers for a minute, and then he gave her a slow wink.

Taz quickly looked down, cheeks colouring and heart thumping uncontrollably. If that wasn't a wink she didn't know what was. It was far too obvious to be imagined- and that was twice now. It wasn't a drunken hallucination- she'd hardly touched the contents of her glass- it had to be something. She stole a glance at February, but the bubbly blonde, thankfully, hadn't noticed and was now playing with Specs' hair, going on and on about the things she could do to it to 'pretty it up'. The Hispanic girl gave a sigh of relief. She turned her head slightly, but Up was now deeply engaged in another conversation.

* * *

><p>It wasn't until almost two hours later that she felt an arm loop around her waist, and heard the hushed voice in her ear.<p>

'You busy?'

She shot a pointed look at February, who was immersed in descriptions of hair-drying techniques, and Up nodded in understanding.

'Wanna go for a walk?'

Taz didn't speak, didn't look at him but simply turned on her heel and made for the door. She didn't dare let herself think that he might be about to ask or tell her something important, as many couples often did after slipping away for a walk. Still, you never could tell…

Up followed her along the deserted corridors of the Headquarters, trying to go over the speech he had planned the way schoolkids crammed before exams.

'Taz,' his mouth felt dry, his knees shaking- he'd never been this nervous about saying a couple of simple sentences. 'Uh, I've been thinkin', actually, thinkin' a lot…and…thing is…'

'Hey, Up, Taz!' both rangers fought back disappointed groans as Bug trotted past, waving to them and oblivious that he had just ruined the moment.

'Taz,' Up began again as the insect rounded the corner and disappeared into the bar.

'Hey there!' this time it was Lieutenant Criss who interrupted the scene, half his attention on a mirror in which he was fixing his hair. Taz let out a little growl of frustration, grabbing Up's arm and yanking him through the hall, out the door and into the nearest empty room. He liked her, he didn't like her, whichever, she was losing her ability to hide her irritation-she was _this close_ to just telling him she liked him herself.

'Taz,' Up began for the third time, 'uh, thing is, since ya saved me, actually before that, uh, even before Bug World, now I come ter think of it, uh, well…' not even a couple of words in and he was babbling. He persisted anyway. 'Ah, what I'm tryin'a say here is…' _Come on, son. I like you, Taz. That's all it takes._

'Up, spit it out!' she looked frustrated now, and grabbed his shoulders, snapping him out of his confused daze. Up noticed the way her fingernails dug, claw-like, into him. Was she mad at him for some reason? Was he acting too soft today, by getting himself trapped? No, she didn't sound mad- not in that sense, anyway. She was right- he had to spit it out- even if it did enrage her, he had to try again. He had to tell her how he felt.

'Taz, I gotta tell you…'

'Oh, _callar!'_ she snapped, aggressively. The nails dug in even harder. 'Don't tie jour tongue up- just _kiss me already, idiota!'_

Up blinked, surprised at the words. _Looks like she already knows how I feel. But I didn't think she…_

The Commander felt the smile creep across his face as he took her in, looking at him defiantly, almost furious in her demand. The fact that she could say something romantic and still manage to look angry just endeared her to him all the more.

'That's no way to talk to your superior officer,' he teased. The Lieutenant's eyes narrowed.

'I'll _superior officer_ jou, jou _hi-'_

She was too adorable when she was mad. He couldn't resist her. Her insult was left unfinished as Up's lips crashed down on hers, trapping the words where they were.

The feeling was intense. Eight years of pent up emotion seared their way into the kiss, shooting through to their fingertips. Taz's fingers were yanking at the silvery roots of his hair as he finally pulled away, leaving them both gasping a little.

The girl's eyes had lost their fierceness, and she stood there looking more than slightly stunned.

A strangled attempt at a word squeaked its way from her mouth. Up raised his eyebrows.

'What, Taz?'

'I wasn't _finished_!' Taz all but screeched.

'Weren't you now, Lieutenant?' Up smirked.

Taz snarled and initiated the kiss herself, slamming him back against the wall. Up momentarily lost his breath at the impact, knowing a bad bruise was already forming on his left shoulder. He barely noticed the pain though- indication, a part of him thought smugly, that he was- without a doubt- no longer soft. Yep, Up was back, one hundred percent. Well, maybe he still cared about stuff, but…

He stopped thinking and lifted Taz off the ground as their lips battled, holding her tightly and suppressing a groan as her arms slid round his neck.

'_Oops!'_ came a very loud, irritatingly familiar voice, and the pair leapt apart.

'Sorry,' February said, not sounding it at all and grinning from ear to ear. 'Didn't see you guys in here.' The blonde held her hands down by her sides, clutching at the blue fabric of her overalls to stop herself rubbing them together.

Taz cursed under her breath- this would be all over the ship- if not the galaxy- within the next five minutes.

'Uh, no problem,' Up mumbled. 'At ease, ranger, you carry on. C'mon, Taz.' And with that he grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the door, the giggles erupting from the schience officer before they'd stepped through it.

Taz rolled her eyes. _'Idiota.'_

* * *

><p><strong>Well...they finally admitted it...thoughts?<strong>


	9. The day after

**And again, I said I was going to be studying, but it's my 18th today and to celebrate I'm taking the day off . So I thought, why not catch up on my fanfictions while I can? **

**Hence, or otherwise, here's chapter 9.**

* * *

><p>Up woke to a stream of sunlight in his face, stiff shoulders from sleeping sitting up and a small, dark-haired girl tucked in his lap. He smiled down at Taz's sleeping form, cuddled up against him, then shut his eyes again, still partly in a dream-state.<p>

After February had spotted them, they'd spent the evening up and down the corridors, trying to find a private spot to continue the kiss, and dodging the continually passing rangers who always seemed to get in their way. Up was pretty sure, despite their best efforts, that enough people had seen them to set tongues wagging for the rest of the year at least. Taz had grown increasingly frustrated at the interruptions, and soon enough the Hispanic girl had grabbed him, rangers or no rangers and kissed him ferociously, making furious threatening gestures at anyone who entered the vicinity.

It was at least three in the morning when they'd reached Up's room, and both exhausted from the sudden revelation of each other's feelings and several hours of evasive action, they'd sat down on his sofa and only managed to tug off their boots before curling against each other and falling asleep.

Up smiled again at the memory, lovingly brushing his fingers through her hair and slowly cricking his stiff neck. Taz did like him after all. The thought warmed his heart- after years of wishful thinking, he was definitely, one hundred per cent sure she…

…wait a minute.

The Commander's eyes opened again as the first wave of insecurity hit him. Had he dreamt it? Maybe all they'd been doing was watching 'the Karate Kid' last night, and his subconscious had made up the kiss…

'_Buenos __dias_.'

Up flinched, then slowly fixed his gaze on her. Taz had raised her head from his shoulder, and was smiling- _actually __smiling_- up at him.

_You idiot. Stop being so damn insecure. _

'_Buenos __dias_ yourself.' He grinned back at her, but a question still continued to tug at the back of his mind.

'Listen, Taz, about last night…'

Taz's face suddenly hardened. 'What about it?'

Up was taken aback by her acid tone, but plodded on. 'I just gotta know- does this mean you really do l…I mean do you want to…with me…'

'Oh.' He watched the relief cross her face and realised she'd been thinking a similar thing. 'Oh. Well. Dat depends.'

Up frowned, puzzled. 'On what?'

'On jou.'

'What d'you mean on m-' he didn't get to finish before Taz shoved him against the back of the sofa and, pinning him there, kissed him roughly. _Oh, __that's __what __she __meant._

For some reason, knowing Taz had been just as insecure as he was made him feel considerably lighter. He reached his arms up, wrapping them round her and holding her tightly as he deepened the kiss, feeling her relax into his embrace.

'So,' he said as they slowly broke apart, 'this is for real, huh?'

'Jou'd better believe it,' Taz murmured, pushing him down onto the couch and leaning over him, kissing him fiercely, forcefully. Up let all conscious thoughts drift away from him as his hands moved down her shoulders, her back, feeling her lips on his, hearing her ragged breathing…

'Up?' she'd pulled away, her dark eyes scanning his face- he wasn't sure for what- almost hesitant, unsure.

Up frowned. _I __thought __she __wanted__…_

'I…you know…my…I…' he'd never seen Taz struggle to spit out a sentence before, but whatever it was she wanted to say, he didn't get to hear it, because at that moment an ear-splitting knock on the door brought them both to a halt.

'Uh, sir? You awake yet?'

Up smacked his forehead. '_Damn_ that Tootsie Megagirl! This is what, the fifth time we've been interrupted!'

* * *

><p>Tootsie's reaction when they'd both appeared from within Up's room hadn't warranted much worry- completely oblivious, he'd uttered a cheerful <em>hi <em>_sir,__hi __ma'am,_and delivered his original message, asking, on behalf of the rest of the crew, if they were to have a meeting. Neither of them doubted for even a minute, however, that after they had been spotted by several rangers- one of whom was February- the gossip about them would have spread like wildfire through the G.L.E.E. already.

Upon arriving at the mess hall, fingers loosely linked, the entire room fell silent. In Taz's peripheral vision she could see Krayonder and Lieutenant Criss smirking. A few more daring rangers were muttering and whispering amongst themselves, and one particularly obnoxious ensign wolf-whistled, narrowly missing a knife hurled across the room.

Up and Taz didn't even have to exchange a glance to know what each other planned to do- both completely ignored the scene and moved to sit down at 15A2's table, acting unmoved by the fact that they were the object of all the subject of all the gossip right now.

A few seats down, February was grinning. 'Aw,' she began, 'you guys are so sweet tog-'

Taz glared her into silence with a look that could quite possibly kill- or at least make clear that the next person who dared challenge it would be on the receiving end of a fist-in-the-face.

One by one, the stares and whistles dropped off, although the murmurs continued to buzz and the tongues to wag, and she suspected they would continue to do so for a long time.

* * *

><p>For the most part of the day, Up received congratulations from other rangers, warnings from fellow commanders and generals about the dangers of starting a relationship in a risky business, and the odd cheeky question regarding just how far he and Taz had gotten, which he refused flatly to answer. Every greeting, every reminder brought back with it the memory of Taz's unfinished thought this morning. <em>What<em>_did__she__want__to__say__to__me?_

He wasn't able to sit down and fully contemplate it, though, as no sooner had he shaken off the last of the rangers, Taz herself had found him again.

It warmed Up's heart to see the bright smile she gave him when they met up again in the corridors- as opposed to her usual scowl. She didn't have to pretend not to be pleased to see him any more.

He pushed his musings aside. Whatever it was, she'd get round to telling him. They had all the time they wanted.

* * *

><p>Taz couldn't believe she'd almost told him. They didn't even have a relationship based on a complete <em>day,<em> and she'd almost just let slip her secret- the secret she had kept from him, from _everyone_ since the day he'd first rescued her.

Sure, she trusted Up- she'd trusted him since the very first time he'd saved her. She'd put her life in his hands, and know he'd keep if safe- but when it came down to it, when she'd almost worked up the courage to tell him…she just couldn't. It was too soon- _far_ too soon. There wasn't a shadow of a doubt in her mind that she would, some day, but right now, well- she couldn't just give it away at any old moment. It called for an important time, not just the morning after they'd admitted they liked each other.

She'd only _just_ kissed him, for goodness' sake, why rush into spilling her guts and revealing her deepest secrets?

She wanted to take things slow. Slow was good. She wanted to be sure.

Up was smiling down at her, Taz realised as she jerked herself out of her thoughts. Why waste time now, thinking about things that wouldn't happen for a long time, when she could have happy, carefree moments with Up here and now?

Taz pushed her thoughts aside, stood on her toes and pulled him into a deep kiss, which was met with applause and wolf-whistles from the handful of surrounding rangers.

* * *

><p>'I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!'<p>

Krayonder hadn't stopped going on about it all day, and his smugness was unbearable. Even February, bubbly gossip that she was, hadn't made so much of a fuss.

'Come on, pay up, man!' the ranger could be heard saying repeatedly to various comrades, demanding ridiculous sums of money to reimburse the hundreds of dollars he had previously lost, 'I told you they were doin' it!'

Saying this comment in front of Megagirl, however, soon knocked him off his throne. Although not even remotely interested in the love lives of the 'pathetic humans', even the robot was becoming irritated by his obnoxious behaviour, and was more than pleased to bring him down.

Giving him a look, Megagirl raised her arms, and made a long, screechy 'neeeeeeeeeeeeewwwww' noise in the general direction of Up and Taz.

'No coital activity detected,' she relayed in a monotone, but wearing the robot equivalent of a smirk. That would show him.

Krayonder stopped in his tracks.

'Aw, WHAT!'

The young Lieutenant whom he had just taken a hundred dollars from turned, a wicked grin spreading. '_Now_ who's payin' up?'

As Krayonder whinged, bitterly handing back money, Criss slipped from the room, planning to hide his wrongfully-gotten winnings before they were confiscated.

Oh, well. He'd just have to tell Krayonder that, if they hadn't already, that meant the odds went up and when Up and Taz finally cracked, the two of them would bleed everyone dry, and wind up with more money than they could imagine.

* * *

><p>The first few weeks of their relationship passed, for Up, in a pleasant sort of blur. They had always gotten on well, but now, with their feelings for each other out in the open, their time together was so much better. No longer did they have to worry about accidentally letting slip that they liked one another, or sit there wishing they could receive some sign of affection from the other.<p>

The efforts of Krayonder, Criss and often February to find out whether the two had yet consummated their relationship had not gone unnoticed by either of them- and although Up's irritation was nothing compared to Taz's short fuse, he had to admit it was damn irritating to sit down, put on 'the Karate Kid' and suddenly hear a cry of 'ooh, Krayonder, look, he's put his arm around her!' Once or twice he'd lost it, dragging the Lieutenant, the private and the schience officer out the room rather more roughly than he intended.

Some of the rangers concealed their curiosity very poorly- a fact which was soon realised when Up, in search of a glass of water one night, walked in on a very awkward conversation.

'I just still can't believe- nearly a whole month and nothing, man!' Krayonder's voice echoed through the nearly empty mess hall.

'Yeah,' came February's obnoxious coo, 'they're like, totally made for each other! Aw, it was so cute when they kissed for the first time…'

Up stood very still in the doorway, suddenly realising who the other rangers were discussing. He wondered for a moment whether or not he should barge in there and tell them off for discussing his personal life, but his body refused to move. A small part of him was curious as to what the others thought of him and Taz.

'Not cute,' Criss put in, 'I mean, cute is cute, ya know? A lot of girls say _I__'__m_ cute- and they're right too…but it is great they're together now- I made fifty bucks the moment they walked in here holdin' hands…keep this up and my new guitar is in the bag!'

'But…dude…' Krayonder's tone indicated his head was having a difficult time wrapping itself around something, 'I mean…man…dude…how've you still got any cash? I got my ass whipped when Megagirl opened her fat mouth! And I can't even win any of it back- it's been a month and they still haven't done each other! I'm down over a thousand space- bucks! If my pay packet don't come soon I'm gonna go into debt!'

Up clapped one hand to his forehead. They were actually laying money down how long it would take before he and Taz…a surge of annoyance started to build up within him. It wasn't even their business! Was there really that little to do here at the G.L.E.E. Headquarters that _this_ could be considered entertainment? He paused as the image of his younger self cropped up in his mind. _Hey, __Crawford, __ten __bucks __says __Commande r__Gruesen __likes __the __catering __officer__…_

He couldn't blame them.

'What about love?' a fourth voice asked, and Up flinched. _Krayonder,__sure__…__but__Bug?_ 'I mean, I don't know much about humans, but down on Bug World some of us, well, we wouldn't let another bug tear off our head and let their larva devour their body unless we were sure…'

'Love?' Krayonder scoffed. 'That's old, man, that's so thirtieth century! If you're gonna believe something so…lame, why don't you put your money where your…pincers… are?'

'Um…okay,' Bug sounded a little downtrodden, 'a hundred larvae, then.'

There was a silence, and Up could picture the stares the other three were giving Bug.

'What about, like, romance?' February pressed. 'Up and Taz are always so cute- I reckon he'd be sooo romantic, like, marriage and stuff…'

Criss snorted. 'I'm not layin' money on marriage! I don't wanna go into that. If you're gonna talk this crap the bet's off…'

'Yeah, man, if they get married the bet's off,' Krayonder said. 'We've just gotta get all the cash before they do…' he paused. 'It'd just be weird, bein' married to Dora the Explorer…'

Up couldn't take this conversation any more. 'What are you all doin' here after hours, rangers?' he boomed, striding into the room. Criss, Krayonder and February immediately fled. Up sighed, looking at Bug's innocent expression. 'At ease, Bug.'

Bug gave him the insect equivalent of a smile. 'I sometimes think they're going overboard on this…'

Up sighed again, sitting down. 'Aw, it's just a bit o' fun…I just wish they wouldn't think all there is to it is…' he made a face, ' 'doin' each other'. There's more to it than that…' he fell silent, thinking.

'Um…Up? Can I ask you something?'

'Sure thing,' Up muttered, his mind still spinning.

'What's 'Dora the Explorer'?'

Up was so surprised by the question he laughed out loud.

'It's just, well, Krayonder keeps calling Taz that behind her back, and I don't really get the joke…'

Keeping a straight face with some difficulty, Up tried to give him an overview of the cartoon character, but the insect, never having access to a TV as of until a couple of months ago, didn't really understand the humour.

He cocked one antenna. 'So, to humans, being likened to a cartoon character is offensive…?'

Up sighed. 'Naw, that's not it, Bug. I think it's just that Taz has one hell of a tough reputation to maintain, and she hates to be seen as 'cute'. It has nothing to do with the cartoon characters- I mean, we call her 'Taz' after that damned Tasmanian Devil off those old Warner Brothers cartoons and she doesn't care…'

Bug paused. 'Wait, Taz isn't her real name?'

Up shrugged. 'Never did tell us her name. I called her Taz as a joke, 'cause she was always gettin' mad, and it kinda stuck. I guess when we first found her she was…well, she'd just been attacked by robots, she was a bit traumatised and not really in the mood to trust anyone…'

'But- she'll tell you, right?' Bug persisted. 'I mean, now you're…'

Up shrugged again, but the thought, once it had entered his brain, became lodged. He told her everything…well, _almost_everything. There were some things he'd rather keep from Taz- not because he didn't trust her, but because he was afraid of her reaction if she did. He could hardly complain if she didn't tell him _one __word_, and anyway, they were only five weeks into their relationship. It probably hadn't crossed her mind.

As Up walked back to his room, he made a firm decision to let Taz's business be Taz's business and his be his, and focus instead on what they had together.

* * *

><p>Taz was already curled up on his sofa when he entered, waiting for him with a pack of redvines and a movie. She shifted across to one side of the couch, making room for him, but instead of sitting down, Up scooped her up into his arms, as he had often wanted to on times like this, ignoring her shouts of 'put me down, <em>idiota!' <em>and kissed her.

For a couple of years now, every time he'd sat down to watch a movie with Taz, he'd wanted to lift her up and kiss her passionately, and, he still could scarce believe it, now he could.

_I'm damn lucky, that's what I am._

And for all her protesting, and despite the fact that she had hit him when he picked her up, Taz was thinking exactly the same thing.

* * *

><p><strong>Mainly fluff, more plot to come soon. I wanted to give them some happy time before the second reconstruction. Chapter 10 may be slow to come, due to HSC in less than two weeks now, but rest assured it is coming.<strong>

**Now I'm off to (legally) get drunk...just kidding. Or am I... you can decide...**


	10. Silly idiota

**My HSC is over! I'm freee! Haha. Now I have five months between school and university to do nothing, so hopefully I'm gonna be writing a lot. Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time, and thanks for all the birthday wishes :D**

**This one's a bit of a filler, but more plot is around the corner.**

* * *

><p>It took a while for things to settle , but soon the rowdy behaviour of the other crew members died down, and they went from teasing the Commander and Lieutenant about their relationship to congratulating them- after all, they had been anticipating this for quite some time. That didn't mean, necessarily, that Krayonder and Criss were going to give up their wager, and every milestone event the couple shared was inevitably followed with the muffled cry of <em>aw, man!<em> from somewhere in the vicinity. Krayonder had lost nearly six months' worth of wages within a few weeks, and the ranger was determined to get some of it back- not just to save himself from financial ruin, but to save his self-respect too. This losing streak was getting humiliating, and in all honesty he couldn't understand why Up and Taz, now they were together, _still _hadn't done anything.

'Hey, dudes,' Krayonder grinned obnoxiously as he sat down with the rest of the crew one lunchtime, 'I got a riddle for you guys. What do you get when you add Taz, Up and a bottle of whiskey?'

'Oh, I love quizzes!' Tootsie said. 'Now let's think…' he furrowed his brow, his simple mind straining to come up with the answer.

Specs frowned through her glasses. 'What did you do?' she demanded.

Krayonder shuffled his feet guiltily. 'I just thought I might…help 'em along a bit …with the bet.' He looked at the faces all glaring at him, 'oh, come on, man! I'm almost outta money! I gotta win it back somehow!'

'Cheater!' February sulked.

Bug's compound eyes widened. 'Did it work, then?'

'Well….' Krayonder's face fell just a little, 'not quite...'

Tootsie, who'd been tapping his forehead the whole time, suddenly spoke up. 'I give up…what _do_ you get if you add Taz, Up and a bottle of whiskey?'

The sudden crash and cry of 'But Taz, that's _my_ moustache!' interrupted their conversation, and the blur that was Taz flitted through the room, buzzed out of her brain and trying frantically to attach a small strip of gray to her face. Up, moustache-less and equally legless lumbered through after her. 'I need that to be Commander!'

Taz paused in the doorway, waggling the moustache at him. 'Aww, jou want it?'

He made to grab it and she snatched it away from him , sticking it on her upper lip and grinning evilly.

'Jou come and get it!' She danced out of his reach, laughing manically and they were off again.

The rest of the crew stared after them, a little speechless.

'That,' Krayonder said to Tootsie, by way of an answer.

Awkward silence ensued for a couple of moments, until Specs finally spoke up.

'Don't _ever_ give them vodka again. If you do you're out of the bet- that was highly embarrassing.'

'Aw, _man_!'

* * *

><p>The failed mission in the ruins, during which Up had nearly died, was a mere decoy. It had taken place on a planet far across the galaxy from where the actual plan was to take place, and its sole purpose had been to distract the G.L.E.E. while the slowly rejuvenating army of robots took down two planets, getting a foothold. Two planets closer to earth. Once they got to earth there would be no question of their supremacy.<p>

It had been far too easy to mislead General Holden. For someone so smart, he was incredibly naïve when it came to the orders of his superiors. He hadn't questioned the mission, but had sent two of his best commanders- Crawford and Up, down on a pointless escapade at a moment's notice.

A few more incidents like that, Space-Claw thought, and the robot army would be sufficiently built up, and ready for a full-scale, and unexpected, assault on planet earth.

And hopefully, by that time, Commander Up would be out the way. The second reconstruction was drawing near, and that would make him weak and vulnerable for quite a while afterwards- if it didn't kill him.

And if it did, well, everything would be so much easier. Space-Claw wouldn't have to do it himself.

* * *

><p>Taz pushed the door release to Up's room, smiling as she beheld his slumbering form, the rays of morning sunlight illuminating him, curled up on one side and the covers drawn up to his chin. Slowly, she crossed the room, climbed onto the bed beside him and shook him.<p>

'Up.'

Up mumbled something in his sleep but didn't stir. She shook him again, with the same result.

'Up! Wake up!'

Taz shook him, hit him, thumped him with a pillow, but to no avail. Frustrated, she stood on the bed, assaulting him with her foot.

'Huh?' At last, the Commander emerged from the blankets, sleepy-eyed and confused.

'Oh, good, jou're awake,' Taz said, as though she hadn't just attacked him to make it so.

Up rubbed his temples. 'Did you just _kick_ me?'

She disregarded his question, and consulted her nonexistent watch. 'It is past eight- jou have ignored me for _nueve horas_ now. Kiss me at once!'

He raised his eyebrows. 'Ask _properly,_ Taz!'

Taz narrowed her eyes at him. 'No. Kiss me- or I will kill jou.'

Her threat had far from the desired effect; Up merely chuckled.

'Aw, Taz, you couldn't kill me. You'd be havin' withdrawal symptoms within five minutes.' He produced a fake yawn. 'Now if you want a kiss, be nice to me, or I'm goin' back to sleep.' Up turned over, pulling the blankets around him again.

Taz glared, and in a series of swift, violent movements she'd jumped off the bed and yanked at the bedclothes, dragging both them and the bed's occupant onto the floor.

'Hey!'

'Get up, _idiota._ Holden wants to see you in his office.'

This actually was true, but Up gave her a suspicious look as he stood up.

'You sure?'

'Is about dat _ridiculo_ reconstruction.' Taz kept her tone the same, but she felt a shiver run through her as she said it. _The dangerous one. _She wouldn't dwell on it now. 'He wants to talk details.'

Up sighed, gathering up his blankets from the floor and tossing them back onto the bed.

'Okay, I'd better have at it, then.' He moved towards the door, leaving Taz staring crossly after him.

'Oy!'

'What?' Up said, doing a pretty passable imitation of innocent- which would have worked had he not been unable to suppress his smirk. Teasing Taz was too much fun to resist- he'd been doing it a lot lately, amused more than he should have been by her anger, and the fact that, although it started off directed him, in their early-romance haze she could never keep it up for long.

'Where's my kiss?' Taz demanded.

'Well, I dunno, Taz, I dunno if you deserve one…'

It was at this moment she slammed him against the wall and took one anyway, and Up was late to his meeting with Holden.

* * *

><p>'Now, Commander,' Holden sat back in his chair, 'I trust Taz told you why I wanted to see you?'<p>

'Yeah,' Up grumbled, ''s about the reconstruction.'

'Well, as you know, your crew are scheduled to take their planet leave at the end of September- but Space-Claw's just informed me that he's scheduled your reconstruction for the 29th…'

Up involuntarily shuddered at the idea that it was so soon- _the dangerous one…_no, it was not dangerous. Just a little risky- but every time he went on a mission there was risk, he should be used to that by now, he was tough…

'As such, I've changed your schedule- you will now take your planet leave next week, until the 20th. Taz too, as I suspect she'll want to assist you with your recovery…'

The idea of a long vacation – just him and Taz- would have been great news, if it weren't coupled with the date of his reconstruction being pushed forward. Holden went on to explain that this meant he could recover while the rest of his crew were on leave, and be back up to scratch, hopefully by the time they returned, but all Up could think of was the daunting possibilities of what might happen to him. The pain in one leg had been bad enough- this was almost the entire right side of his body- he wasn't looking forward to that part at all. Not to mention the fact that there was a significantly higher chance this time that he might not walk away from it…

No. He couldn't think like that. He was Commander Up, he was strong. True, he wasn't invincible, but he survived being cut up by robots- he could survive this too. He would have to try. For Taz.

* * *

><p>Criss wondered if it would be in his best interests to get a hair straightener. As best-looking Lieutenant in the League, he felt it was his responsibility to look amazing at all times. He looked in the mirror again, twirling a curl around his finger and picturing again what it would look like.<p>

'Hey, man, great news!' Krayonder's voice issued from the doorway, and Criss turned to find both him and February in his room.

'Oh, hey, guys. Do you think I should get a straightener?'

'Don't worry about that now, I've got an update on the bet!'

'Oh yeah?' Criss said absently, gazing again at his reflection. 'What's that?'

'Up and Taz are going on planet leave early- together!' February squealed. 'Isn't that the cutest thing ever? It's totally gonna be, like, a honeymoon…'

'No way, man!' Krayonder said in alarm. 'If they get married the bet's off! But the good news is, some time alone together…who knows, we might be winnin' our wages back! Whadja think?'

'I think…' Criss pondered for a moment, 'I look cool enough as it is. I don't need to straighten my hair.'

'What about the bet, man?'

Criss blinked. 'The bet?'

'Yeah, we were just totally telling you about Up and Taz…'

'Oh.' He shook his head a little. 'Right.'

February launched into the whole story again, and Criss nodded, but his thoughts were still with himself and his hair.

* * *

><p>Up glanced across at Taz, head on the arm of the sofa, asleep as the credits of 'the Karate Kid' played for the umpteenth time. It was hard to believe, watching her so peaceful and asleep now, that only half an hour ago she'd been shouting at him at the top of her lungs. They'd been fighting ever since he came back from Holden's office, Taz furious that he was acting like 'such a <em>bebe<em>' about the second reconstruction, insisting that if he even _thought_ about dying, she would kill him. Pointing out that if he was dead, she wouldn't be able to- as he would already be dead thank you very much- had just made her angrier, and she'd thrown a shoe at his head.

Now being hit in the head with a shoe, especially if it was a steel-toed combat boot, Up had decided, despite his unmoved reaction, really did hurt- not that he'd tell her- she was mad enough at him being 'soft' as it was. They'd argued all day, all throughout the meeting with the rest of the crew, all through their daily sparring match, and all through their training of a group of recruits, which had frightened the young rangers and caused them to receive some concerned looks from the other officers.

He didn't even know, in all honesty, how they'd ended up watching a movie this evening- neither who had put it on nor whose idea it was were still clear to him, only that she hadn't spoken to him once throughout it, leaning against the arm of the sofa instead of him, and giving him dirty looks whenever he'd tried to say anything.

He wondered if she was still angry in her dreams, the frown had faded from her face as she dozed, but Up didn't dare wake her up.

Sighing, he stood, switched off the TV and the lights and walked over to the bed, climbing in and vowing tomorrow he'd try and fix things up.

It wasn't until after nearly two hours, during which he'd lain awake, that he heard soft footsteps, and felt the bed lurch slightly. An arm snaked around his shoulders, followed by another, and a pair of lips that stopped at his ear to whisper affectionately 'silly _idiota_,' before touching his lightly.

He didn't move, just in case if she thought he was awake she might resume their fight, but as he felt her settle down beside him he knew she'd forgiven him.

* * *

><p>Taz heard Up get up off the sofa and walk around. She kept her eyes shut, stubbornly pretending to be asleep. She'd overreacted, she knew that, but she didn't want to talk to him right now- she knew if she did she would have to apologise. Truth was, Up's fear mirrored her own- what if the doctors made a mistake- what if he did die during the reconstruction? She couldn't let him know she worried about it. She had to fight all signs of weakness- if Up knew she was just as concerned, he'd be even more afraid, and she couldn't bear to see that. By acting like he was making a fuss over nothing and everything was fine, she was trying to make it so. By furiously insisting nothing was going to go wrong with the reconstruction, she was trying to will Up to survive no matter what, to show that it shouldn't get him down. If it meant having to cold-shoulder him for a while to get the message home, she'd do it.<p>

Taz opened one eye just a crack. The room was darkened now; Up wasn't here, he'd gone to bed. She wanted more than anything to go and curl up in his arms, but she forced herself to remain where she was, to not move- not yet, anyway. Not while he was awake- that would look like grovelling, and she wouldn't give him that satisfaction. She refused to become one of those girly girlfriends who resorted to sickening apologies in falsely sweet voices to gain forgiveness. She would wait, and make peace with him after he'd had time to stew in her anger at him.

The boring, lonely minutes ticked by at a snail's pace.

_Oh, screw this. _

Up's breathing was slow and even when she entered the room- whether he was asleep or just lying there she neither knew nor cared. Slowly, she eased herself into the space beside him.

'Silly _idiota_,' she said softly, kissing him once, and resting her head comfortably against his shoulder. She wasn't sure if she was referring to him or herself.

* * *

><p>Up wasn't surprised to find Taz still in his arms next morning, but it <em>did<em> surprise him a little that she was willing to forget about their little fight so easily- from his experience, whenever he and Taz had argued in the past, she would pretend to be angry for at least another few days, even when both of them knew full well there was no longer anything to be mad about. He wondered whether he should attribute this to the fact that they were no longer friends, but something more, or whether she was concerned about him, or what, but he decided not to push it. He wanted these upcoming weeks with Taz to be pleasant ones- if this was the only time he got with her before he died, he wanted it to be _good._

No. She was right. Nothing was going to happen to him- the risk was minimal, and anyway, he should forget about Space-Claw and the reconstruction for a while, and just appreciate the fact that Taz was here, that she was in his life.

They were back on the best of terms by the time they left for planet leave, comfortably holding hands as Up waved goodbye to his crew and Taz gave them her own, one-fingered 'wave'.

They had four weeks ahead of them to forget about everything except each other, and Up intended to make use of them. After all, they might be the last of his life...


	11. Because he will get back up

**Thank you once again, everyone :D **

**I can't really think of anything else to put here, so...here 'tis. Ch11.**

* * *

><p>Up smiled as he looked through the open glass door onto the balcony. Taz was leaning over the edge, watching the few rays of sun poking out from the clouds and dancing across the water below. The angle of her face was softened in the early morning light, her eyes wide and doe-like, the corners of her mouth turned up into a small smile. The gentle breeze tossed a few stray strands of hair lightly around her cheeks, and her eyelashes fluttered slightly as she daydreamed. She looked so pretty, an embodiment of the side of her only he saw, contently and serenely immersed in her own thoughts, and Up suddenly wished he had artistic talent- he'd like to paint her like that.<p>

Knowing that was impossible, he went for the next best thing, creeping up on her and snapping his cameraphone in her face.

'Hey!' she lunged for it, and he had to hold it over his head to stop her destroying it. '_Hijo de puta!_ Give me that!' She tackled him to the ground, grabbing hold of the phone and trying to pry it out of his hands.

'Give me dat, jou _idiota!_ Give it to me!'

'Aw, Taz, I want it!'

She yanked at the phone, twisting Up's wrist painfully in her attempts.

'Ow! Okay, I'll delete it, just let go…'

'No chance, _idiota_. I don't believe jou, give it now!'

Up knew this struggle could go on all day, and gave up trying to rescue his phone by force, resulting to alternative measures of persuasion and planting a row of little kisses down the side of her neck.

'Come on, Taz…'

He could see her trying to remain steely, but her resolve was crumbling with each kiss.

'Jou don't play fair…'

Up chuckled. 'Hey, I'll tell you what else ain't fair, if I have to take that phone off you I'll print that picture out and put a poster-sized copy on the ceiling…'

She glared down at him. 'Don't jou dare.'

He couldn't resist her then, she looked so viciously adorable when she was pretending to be mad at him, he reached his head up and kissed her, letting his guard down for long enough for Taz to snatch the phone and hurl it off the balcony.

They'd spent three weeks in this sort of happy state, a small block of time out of time in which they could enjoy each other's company. They'd found an apartment in a quiet corner of earth that had never been touched by the robots to spend their planet leave in, and allowed themselves to forget about the G.L.E.E., about the second reconstruction, about everything, and just spend time together in their new relationship. With the pressure of the robots and the army and their responsibilities gone, both were more relaxed than they'd been in months. The first night they'd gone to dinner in a small Mexican restaurant they'd chanced to pass, and Up had wondered why their waitress had been suppressing an uncontrollable urge to laugh until he'd noticed Taz, ordering with a deadpan expression and wearing his moustache.

Their apartment had two bedrooms, which, after watching a movie together (usually the good 'Karate Kid' with Jackie Chan, although they had tried and scoffed at a few different versions made before and since) they would leave for faithfully. Up knew, however, that although he went to sleep with his arms empty when he woke up Taz would be in them, and she was, every morning, some nights not even bothering to wait til she thought he was asleep before she came in (although, Krayonder and Criss would be annoyed to know, they were _still_ no closer to winning their bet).

Up didn't want this vacation to ever end, but he couldn't help noticing as the days marched closer to their return to the G.L.E.E., and to his dangerous operation. It annoyed him that the best times of his life had to speed past as though they were desperate to get out of the way, and he found himself wishing, as he woke up on the last morning to the sound of Taz's breathing, that she hadn't destroyed his phone. He'd wanted that memento of this little piece of his life- he'd planned to take a copy of the picture with him into the reconstruction. He wanted Taz with him during that, even if she wasn't allowed to actually be in the room.

* * *

><p>They returned to find the rest of the 15A2 crew had already gone on their own planet leave, but the nine days remaining before the reconstruction had to be spent in official duties. There were still new recruits to be trained, mission logs to be filled out and a whole bunch of seminars to attend. On top of that, both had, in their peaceful time alone, forgotten the effect hundreds of others constantly around them had on their relationship. Gone were the times when they could just stop whatever they were doing for a kiss; now they fell back under the scrutiny of prying eyes, of whoops and cheers and the rustle of exchanging money every time they held hands.<p>

Even so, the 29th seemed to creep up on them at lightning speed. Up nearly had a heart attack when he glanced up at the calendar and saw the huge, bold 28 staring at him. Tomorrow. _Tomorrow._

That evening was a quiet affair. They'd started watching the old Harry Potter movies during planet leave, and they'd gotten out the second part of Deathly Hallows to watch this evening, but neither were really in the mood. More than once Taz found herself just staring, openly staring at Up, trying to memorise every inch of his face, of the way he leaned on the arm of the sofa, trying to freeze him in time with her eyes, trying to will him not to go, not to do it, not to take such a risk.

She wondered for a moment whether she should tell him. She'd been toying with the idea since the night they'd first kissed- of telling him, of giving him something that proved how much she cared for him. She was considering telling him her name.

Taz just hadn't found an appropriate moment to do that yet. _Jou could never see him again after tomorrow, jou know_._ Jou might never get another chance…_

'Up…'

'Hmm?' he blinked and turned to her.

She bit her lower lip, trying to bring herself to do it. 'Up, I…' the words were on the tip of her tongue, but what she said instead was 'don't go.'

He said nothing, but pulled her up into his lap, something that, over the past few weeks, she'd grown more accustomed to (although if anyone asked she still hated it and thought it was for little sissies). She could feel the fear in his embrace; his left arm, wrapped tightly round her waist was trembling slightly.

'I gotta, Taz. You know I ain't got a choice…'he smiled down at her, but she knew him well enough to see through it. 'After it's over, Taz, promise you'll be tough on me, make me get back up if I start goin' soft on ya again.'

She gave her own tentative smile. '_Por supuesto, idiota._ Jou are one tough sonovabitch, jou know, jou'll recover fast- well jou will, or I will kill jou.'

_When_ this is over, she told herself. _Because he will get back up._

Taz could see from the glint in his eye that he was determined to stick it out, that despite his fear he would try to hold on, if he could. He'd come a long way from the cowardly spayed little puppy he'd been two months ago, and she was proud of him.

She didn't hesitate to acquiesce when he asked if she would stay with him tonight- neither of them wanted to be alone. She lay beside him, head in the crook of his shoulder, both of them staring through the darkness at nothing. His breathing patterns told her he was still awake, and they lay there for hours, just thinking.

* * *

><p>Taz drifted in and out of sleep for a few moments, opening her eyes and shutting them to form a transition between her waking and dreaming thoughts.<br>She hadn't even realised she _had _fallen asleep until now, with the orange morning light touching her face. Her pupils dilated as she lifted her lids, instantly snapping them shut again as the thought came rushing to her brain.

_No, no, it can't be morning. If I don't _despertarse _then it can't be morning. If it isn't morning it can't happen._

Taz lay very still, the anxiety gathering in the pit of her stomach, her mind screaming at her heart to stop hammering so hard.

_Shut up, _estupido._ Jou'll wake Up._

Even as she thought the words she felt the man beside her twitch and stir, felt the tickle of his moustache as his lips found her forehead.

'I know you're awake,' the familiar voice drawled in her ear. She said nothing and refused to move.

'Aw, Taz. Puttin' it off won't change anything. I gotta go through with this damn reconstruction no matter how long you keep pretendin' to be asleep.'

She knew that. Knew it, and knew she was being _ridiculo_, that she couldn't stop it, but she couldn't help herself. She was acting weak, but when he might be...no, she wouldn't think it.

Taz groaned and sat up, leaning into Up's side as his arms snaked around her waist.

'Hey, hon.'

'_Hola, idiota,_' she replied, trying to keep her tone light. He saw through it.

''s gonna be okay, Taz- remember, you promised to be tough on me.'

'Hey, jou don' have to remind me to be tough,' she shoved him lightly, and he caught her arm and leaned in to kiss her.

'That's my girl.'

They'd walked to the medibay together, neither looking at the other for fear that they'd lose their self-control and shed a tear or two. Now, standing in the doorway, Taz just wanted to slam the door shut, kill every damn doctor in the place and take Up somewhere they couldn't touch him, where none of the _hijos de puta_ could try to break him up and put him together like a jigsaw puzzle. He'd already been cut up by the robots, why did he have to go through it again?

She didn't say or do anything, though. Up was being brave about it, and he taught her to be tough. She couldn't let him down.

They didn't say any goodbyes. Up's hand left hers, and he turned, taking one step through the door, not stopping to look at her. Taz steeled herself, and moved to do likewise, when she found his lips pressed firmly against hers.

'For the road,' Up said when they broke apart, and then he stepped through the door and was out of sight.

* * *

><p>General Holden couldn't say he wasn't concerned about Up. The Commander had been in the medibay for two days, the surgeons devoting every waking hour to the operation, and several throughout the night, and though the reports so far had been positive, the hardest part, he had heard, was still to come. He hoped sincerely that Up would pull through, it would be such a loss to the G.L.E.E. should he not last the operation. And he would, though as the second-highest ranking officer only to Space-Claw he was unable to admit it, miss Up around the place. He was a good ranger, a good Commander, a good friend- not just to him but to the whole League. Every hour on the hour groups of ensigns, recruits and higher officers alike were asking after him.<p>

Holden had a lot of work to get on with- it was training day for the new recruits- and they were supposed to be learning from the best- the Commanders were to be instructing them in the vitals- combat, weaponry, et cetera. Without Up they were short one brilliant mind, and he had already decided who should fill the position- there was no-one else, really.

Holden sighed. She was _there_ again. Every time he walked past the infirmary, Taz was outside, forehead against the door. She had to pick herself up; there were two days to go before they completed the reconstruction, and much as he felt for her, he had a duty, as General of the whole G.L.E.E., to ensure that when a ranger had a job to do they got it done. And right now, whether she liked it or not, Taz had a job to do.

'Lieutenant!'

Taz jumped, turning and giving Holden a salute.

'I don't recall giving you the day off- if I recall correctly you're on weapons training with the new recruits- now stop skulking around the medibay, find where you're assigned and go there.'

The anger flashed across her face, and she looked like she was about to shout at him, or hurl something, but Holden had the power to hire and fire, so she clenched her fists and gave him a furious look instead.

He sighed again. 'Lieutenant…_Taz_, look, I know this is hard for you- hell, we're all concerned about the Commander's surgery, but…'

'Don't jou realise, jou _idiota_, he could…'

Holden raised one eyebrow at being called an _idiota_ by a lower-ranking officer, but under the circumstances, he let it slide. 'I am aware of the-_minimal_- risks, Taz, but it's not gonna get any less risky with you standing there all day. You do remember what I said to you when this…_thing_ between the two of you started- relationships are not supposed to get in the way of your official duties.'

'_Si, senor,'_ Taz muttered.

'Come on, then.'

Taz followed him reluctantly, each step killing her, making her feel like a traitor. She had vowed she wouldn't leave until they let her in- something she had furiously told the doctors, despite their insistence that someone would notify her the second there was anything to be notified about.

She hadn't realised it was going to take three days- three solid days of waiting and worrying. Last night she'd sat in Up's room all night, wrapped in his blankets and clutching her zapper in some _estupido_ hope that this might help both her and him somehow. Maybe Holden was right, maybe it would be better to take her mind off it for a while, and if she kept up like this she might be in danger of losing her tough reputation.

* * *

><p>And so it was that while Commander Up was holed up in the medibay, the hapless task of teaching the new recruits their first combat lesson fell to Taz. It was a stifling mid-morning, and the hopeful new rangers were gathered in groups across the courtyard, listening intently to instructions bestowed upon them by their superiors.<p>

General Holden led Taz across the grounds, indicating her group and highlighting her duties for the day.

'You'll be teaching them the basic blocks and punches- you have an hour to get them as proficient as you can before we switch over. Commander Up generally demonstrates with volunteers.' He twirled his rifle about in his hand as he spoke; his job was to teach the recruits how to use a number of ceremonial weapons for official ceremonies.

Taz nodded.

'Oh, and I'd advise you not to pay too much attention to Reilly. He's got a smart mouth on him, and he needs discipline, but I know how you …tend to react to rangers who offend you, so I would ask you _not to rise to his bait.'_

The Lieutenant growled under her breath. _Gran_, she was going to have to deal with some _hijo de puta_ with some smart mouth called Reilly on top of all her worries. The few strands of patience she had suddenly felt even thinner.

She recognised Reilly before she saw or even heard his voice; he whistled as she walked out in front of the group. She shot a seething stare in his general direction.

'Okay, _idiotas_,' she began, ignoring Holden's characteristic raised eyebrow of disapproval at her methods. 'Jou tink jou got what it takes to be tough?'

Taz threw herself into her assigned task; anything to take her mind off Up, being cut up and sewn together somewhere within the main building. She demonstrated sparring tactics with a few volunteers, mentally singling out her favourites fairly early on- a few scrawny little scrappers who reminded her somewhat of herself, and one stocky boy whose reflexes impressed her, and who, though she refused to consciously think it, seemed rather like Up when she first met him.

Her thoughts were focused squarely on the work at hand, as she rattled off instructions and demonstrated, but as she proceeded to severely tell off a recruit for disrespecting her, she noticed, out of the corner of her eye, that her favourites had somehow gravitated to sit near one another, and were watching her demonstration with the utmost interest.

Reilly, on the other hand, was getting under her skin. He couldn't be older than fifteen, but his attitude made her forget her strictly threaten-but-don't-actually-injure-the-kids policy- Twice he had disputed her commands, loudly and in front of everyone as if he didn't care what anyone else thought, and several times he had disobeyed her instructions. It was becoming harder and harder not to raise her fist to his face (at the very least; she hadn't ruled out her knife).

'Reilly, if Commander Up heard you speaking like that, he'd have your ass,' Holden had appeared just as the urge to grab her knife was becoming uncontrollable, twirling his rifle and stopping to stand beside Taz. 'Getting on all right, Lieutenant?'

'Commander Up?' Reilly just didn't know when to stop.

'Yes, ranger, Commander Up. I trust you've heard of him?'

_Estupido_ question, Taz thought. Everyone had heard of him. Her heart twisted as his name was mentioned, the thought of what might be happening to him now returning with sudden horror to her mind. She shook it away fiercely. No. _No._ She would not act weak and worry- not in front of Holden, when she was trying to prove herself, not in front of that _hijo de puta _Reilly, not in front of her favourites, whom she wouldn't mind seeing on her ship serving under her some day.

'Yeah,' Reilly snorted. Taz didn't have to look at him to know Holden's left eyebrow was approaching the centre of his forehead.

'Yes _sir_,' Holden corrected sternly, 'well then you should know that one of the toughest commanders in the League would not appreciate you being so disrespectful towards _his_ Lieutenant.' Taz wasn't sure whether he'd laid special stress on the word 'his', but either way it didn't matter- any ranger in their right mind knew not to mess with Commander Up. Reilly wasn't the type to desist, though.

'What could that guy do to me? I don't see him around, do you? And I heard that, you know, he was soft now…'

Taz's knife had appeared from her belt. 'He was never soft,jou lil _cabron. _Jou wanna take a walk…on my knife?'

'Taz…' Holden warned.

'I heard he cried before that operation thing he's doin' now, 'cause he was too weak even to…'

There was no restraining Taz then, and before Holden knew what had happened the rifle had been snatched from his hands and was being aimed at his chest.

'TAZ!' Holden shouted. She took no notice.

'I'll shoot jou, _hijo de puta, _I'll shoot jou straight through de heart, I swear…'

'TAZ!' Holden wrested the rifle from her as she took aim. 'That is not acceptable behaviour! You do _not_ threaten the cadets with weapons!'

Taz gave him a scathing look.

'Fine.' And with that, she raised her right fist and heaved it with all her might into his gut.

'TAZ!' Holden shouted, grabbing her roughly by the arm and escorting her towards the main building.

Taz knew she was in for it, but she'd be damned if she'd let anyone attack Up like that, especially when he could be in a life-or-death situation.

She couldn't help noticing, as she was marched off in disgrace, and as Reilly crawled off towards the infirmary that her four favourites were gazing after her in admiration.

_Hmm._ She could make use of those kids. She loved being feared, but being respected would definitely have its advantages.

Just stepping through the door into Holden's office drained her mood again, and her stomach twisted up again as she remembered.

Up. The reconstruction. _Mierda._

* * *

><p><strong><em>Yeah, to be honest I'm not that happy with this chapter. I promise the next one shall be better, and I know I keep saying this, but it shall have a lot more plot in it *guilty smile*<em>**


	12. The second reconstruction

****Here's ch12, then. I hope it's ok, it took me a while (and a lot of procrastinating) and I'm still not a hundred percent pleased with the end result.****

* * *

><p>The simple folk of Farm Planet never saw anything coming. Rural communities never paid much attention to the skies, other than to see whether it would rain or to see if their space-hens had escaped, and so when the first of the spaceships sailed across their sun they assumed it was a cloud and kept on working. When the first handful of them touched down in the wilderness, nobody noticed- or suspected- a thing. It was only when the armies of cold, steel-plated men began to appear from the hills, trooping across the farms and storming the farmhouses.<p>

Not having any guns, and indeed not even knowing of the existence of such devices, those clever enough to work out _not_ to go up to the robots and introduce themselves tried to defend themselves with pitchforks and shovels. They didn't stand a chance, and soon enough the northern areas of Farm Planet had fallen, and the robots were one step closer to galactic dominion.

* * *

><p>The oxygen mask having been shoved down over his face once more, Up had felt himself drifting. He wondered momentarily, in whatever level of consciousness he was currently in, what it would be like to die. He and Taz hadn't been paying much attention to 'Deathly Hallows' when they watched it last night, but he'd taken note of the scene where Harry died. He wondered if he really would see white light, and be told he could go back or go on…nah. That seemed too cliché. He was pretty sure he wouldn't. Pretty damn sure he wouldn…<em>boy, are those nice colours…<em> Up lost his train of thought, staring at the colours dancing in front of his face and wondering where they'd come from. He was still aware of being on an operating table somewhere, but Up had the sensation of standing in amongst all these colours, some he'd sworn he'd never seen before; he couldn't put a name to them.

_That one'd look great on Taz…if she ever wore it…she prob'ly wouldn't…hang on…_ Up looked around him in dismay. Bright colourful light…_damn, I'm dead! _

'Commander Up...'

Up looked around, turning to face the speaker. 'Um, I hate to be rude, but are you dead?'

'No.'

Up blinked, confused. 'Ah….well, see, I was only pavin' the way for askin'…am I dead?'

'You're not dead, Up.'

Up was even more confused. What was this, a hallucination, a vision, a coma fantasy? _Why am I in some cliché dream when out there Taz is…_

'You're not 'dreaming', and you're not dead.' He sounded annoyed. 'And for the record, this is not cliché. There's something you should know, so listen to what I'm about to tell you.'

_Oh._ Up hadn't realised he'd said that out loud, and then something hit him. _Did that mean…_

'Does this…I mean, is this…I'm…not gonna die in the reconstruction?' There was a pause and he held his breath for the answer.

* * *

><p>'Taz, I have put up with a lot from you, but <em>this…' <em>Holden was pacing, hands behind his back, tapping his left hand on his right as he ranted. 'This is unacceptable, you hear? You do NOT threaten the cadets, and you do NOT attack children because of your own insecurities…if you weren't such a valued member of the Starship Rangers, you could be getting your cards here…'

Taz rolled her eyes. She'd been hearing this speech since she was nineteen; it always fell through. She leaned back in her chair, crossing her ankles on Holden's desk. This would normally be the time when she would tune out completely, but she knew today that if she didn't keep her attention squarely focused on her lecture, her mind would wander off into the tangled mess of worries surrounding Up and his surgery. She swallowed and fixed her eyes on General Holden.

'You remember what I keep telling you?' he was saying now, 'We don't prohibit relationships in the G.L.E.E, so long as they don't get in the way with your duties- but _if they do…_Taz, your devotion to Commander Up is touching, it always has been, and I have no intention of, well…just _make sure nothing of the sort ever happens again, got it?'_

Taz muttered her assent.

'I'm taking you off the training programme forthwith. One of the other commanders can take your place, and you can stay behind for orderly duty for the rest of the week. Be thankful I've seen fit to be lenient.'

She rolled her eyes again as she got to her feet and saluted. Taz couldn't deny her disappointment at her new situation- in spite of herself she had been enjoying mentoring those recruits the way Up had taught her all those years ago- especially those special four. From what she'd heard the new rangers would be moving on to weapons next week- and she desperately wanted to be the one to teach them how to use a zapper. Orderly duty was even worse- setting the tables and shovelling food in the mess hall for every _idiota_ in the League was one of the most hated chores, not to mention those damned awful hair nets…. still, it was better not to say anything. Besides Space-Claw himself, General Holden was the highest member of the League, and his word was pretty much law. She'd seen much worse punishments dished out on rangers for far less; it was just lucky Holden thought so highly of both her and Up.

'Sir, urgent distress call…' the words crackled through the intercom, and Taz paused, one foot halfway through the door.

'It's Farm Planet- we just sent a pod down there, and…'

Taz spied General Holden staring at her, eyebrows raised, and realised she'd been craning her neck to hear. He gestured towards the door in annoyance, and she took the hint, muttering crossly under her breath about _estupido pomposo _high ranking officers. Holden turned himself back to his communications device and prepared himself for bad news.

* * *

><p>'Lieutenant Taz!'<p>

Taz had frozen the moment she'd seen the white-clad figure hurrying towards her, all annoyance at not being able to hear whatever the distress call was, and indeed all other thoughts immediately emptying from her head. The colour drained from her face. The only time they were going to send a nurse to find her was if there was any news on Up's situation. And the only news she could think of, if they were looking for her this early on- she was sure they'd said it would take another day or two at least- was that something had happened to him- what if he had-

She'd never experienced what others would call 'nearly a heart attack'- Krayonder uttered the phrase at least once a week when someone surprised him, (_dude, you nearly gave me a heart attack!)- _and she always scoffed at the very idea, but she was pretty sure she'd come close to that sensation now.

'Lieutenant Taz!' the nurse said again, standing not two feet in front of her. Taz swallowed the bile in her throat.

'_S-si?'_

_I am a pathetic, weak_, niño pequeño _acting like dis, _part of her thought, the rest of her rooted to the spot. If anyone saw her acting this soft, she'd have to kill them to destroy the evidence- but when this woman had the news of Up's life on the tip of her tongue…

'The doctor instructed me to come and find you- he said you were to be kept updated on Commander Up's reconstructive surgery…'

'What happened to him? What de hell did jou do to him? Answer me!' Taz realised she was growling, her face very close to the nurse's, gripping the collar of the woman's uniform in her fists. The nurse blanched a little at being manhandled in this way.

'I-I don't know…' she squeaked a little at Taz's murderous expression, despite the fact that the Hispanic ranger was half her size, 'I'm just the messenger, all I was told was to come and find you so they could fill you in…'

Taz released her suddenly, causing the woman to stumble back into the wall.

This suspense was even worse than hearing the news outright- each second that ticked by not knowing was torturous. She just wanted to know, one way or the other. Taz couldn't sprint to the medibay fast enough, practically taking the door apart with her bare hands before the doctor released the latch and she all but fell into the infirmary.

'What have jou done to him, _hijo de puta?'_ she snarled. '_Where is he?'_

'Calm down, Lieutenant,' the doctor raised his hands, narrowly dodging a punch aimed at his trachea. 'The operation went perfectly smoothly- better than planned- a success. The Commander's going to be fine in a short while- we just have to fix up the loose ends.'

Taz's eyes had expanded to thrice their usual size, her jaw dropping. She tried to remember how to close it again, but the revelation had left her in a daze.

'Jou…he…I…it…Up… _es que… pero…_' Taz could no longer string together a coherent sentence, slowly shedding English words and lapsing into random Spanish phrases as her mind went numb.

He was alive! Hewasalivehewasalivehe…

'We did tell you the risks were unlikely…'

Unlikely, yes, but fatal if they occurred, and her pessimistic mind had automatically jumped to the worst, but he was here, they hadn't broken him, he was alive in there somewhere…

'_Podría…'_ Taz swallowed, forcing back the sudden pricks of tears and gathering herself, '_Me refiero a…_I want to see him.'

Her last statement brought back with it the old fierceness, and she tried to stare him down. Mustn't let him see her get all emotional, now…

'Commander Up still has to be given blood and adrenaline shots, and he hasn't woken yet…we're predicting he'll come round in a couple of hours, and I'll send someone to fetch you when he does…'

A couple more hours. Taz's relief and joy were for a moment dampened by the thought of the extra waiting time; the burning craving to go and see Up growing stronger every millisecond, but the doctor had shut the door again and she was left to threaten the lock and make a futile effort to bust it down.

'Yo, Taz.'

Taz grimaced as Krayonder sidled into view.

'Lieutenant to jou,' she muttered.

'How's Up?'

The Lieutenant couldn't help grinning as she relayed the news. 'He ees goin' to be fine- dey have nearly finished, and he is gettin' through it like one tough son of a bitch!'

Krayonder returned her smile, although his somewhat reflected his guilt at his previous comments about his Commander being soft- statements he had since retracted a hundred times over. 'That's great, man!'

He slapped her on the shoulder in a friendly gesture, jumping away from her instantly as he remembered who he was talking to. Taz didn't have the energy to shout at him, though- all the thoughts in the forefront of her mind were devoted to Up and the prospect of a few hours' time, when she would see the results of the operation. She couldn't mind Krayonder's friendly enthusiasm at a time like this, not when she'd worried for so long and now had a few painful hours to kill waiting.

She found herself killing time chatting to him, or rather pretending to listen to him chatter in order to keep her mind occupied, but since Krayonder's only topics of conversation consisted of the pranks he and Criss had been pulling on their cohort and how attractive Specs was, especially from behind, Taz found her mind drifting into nothingness.

'Eh, is it fourteen-hundred hours yet?' she grumbled. Krayonder seemed not to notice her boredom. He glanced over at her for a moment, and smiled.

'Say, Taz…when Up gets back to his old self, are ya gonna, uh…'

Taz suddenly sat up straighter, giving him a threatening look. He'd better not be trying to talk about…

'Uh, I just wondered, man, 'cause me and Criss have this bet…' Taz's eyes narrowed, and continued to do so, her fists simultaneously balling up as Krayonder foolishly continued with his sentence.

She was trying to choke him with her bandana when Criss's curly head appeared from around the corner.

'Hey, Krayonder, I found where I can buy a new straigh-woah, Taz!'

She paused, waiting for whatever lame excuse he might have for saving Krayonder. 'What?'

Calling her name was, in fact, all Criss had, and now he stood, shuffling one foot and wondering what he was supposed to do now. Maybe if he sang something she would be distracted by his brilliant voice- nobody could resist it…on the other hand, though, last time he'd sung (from as far away as the room next door- what more could he do?) she'd knocked on the wall and shouted death threats until he stopped.

Taz went back to trying to strangle her fellow crewmember, but her heart really wasn't in it any more- she'd just remembered why she was talking to Krayonder in the first place, and what she was trying to take her mind off.

Criss tapped his foot, trying to think of an appropriate tune, when something came back to him- a legitimate excuse.

'Oh yeah, Taz, your fan club's lookin' for ya.'

Taz blinked. '_Que?'_

Her confusion caused her to loosen her grip, dropping Krayonder to the ground. _De hell is dat _idiota_ on about?_ It was hard to imagine Criss making up something- it was hard even to imagine Criss thinking up anything except how to make himself look 'even more attractive to the girl rangers'.

The vain Lieutenant waved his hand. 'Some kids that say you taught 'em, I dunno, I wasn't listenin' too close, I noticed my hair needed a wash…'

It clicked. The recruits. Taz found a smirk creeping across her face, and she forgot completely that she was trying to kill one of her ensigns. She left Krayonder and Criss with no more than a backward glance and a call of '_adios, idiotas!'_

Sure enough, the four young rangers were waiting for her, unable to hold in their exuberance.

'Lieutenant, you should have seen it, Reilly's in the medibay…'

'He can barely move…'

'Doctors say he might be haemorrhaging…'

'No, idiot, he said if she'd hit him again he _might _have…'

It was important for Taz not to let her affection for them show- she had a tough bitch reputation to uphold, and it was already hard enough to do so when her relationship with Up was deepening- but it was difficult to do when everything they said- from the girl's excitement at the possibility of violence to the smaller boy's habit of calling his companions idiots at every possible moment- reminded her of herself. She really could shape these cadets into valuable assets, and vowed silently to do so- to train them, teach them what Up taught her, learn their names, that sort of thing.

'Do we have you for weapons training next week?'

Taz's smile faded.

'I got fired from de programme,' she grumbled, not making eye contact with them, her mind reeling with ideas. Holden had taken away her official duties with the cadets, but she knew she could do a better job than any of the other officers standing on her head- and the G.L.E.E. needed better soldiers; they were on their way to bringing up a generation of Krayonders. Before she knew what she was doing, Taz found herself discussing the possibility of training then in secret- after hours, bringing them up to her standards so they could bring down all the _idiotas_ like Reilly…

'Lieutenant!'

Taz paused mid-sentence at the familiar voice. 'Hold dat thought.'

The shrill squeak of her name from the nurse's mouth could only mean one thing…

She was up and running towards the infirmary before any of them could utter a word.

* * *

><p>Up moved his head slightly, trying to climb his way out from the clouds of fuzziness that seemed to lay over his mind. Something had happened, something he was supposed to remember…<p>

_There's something you should know…_ he was pretty sure Space-Claw had come into it somewhere, but in his hazy state he couldn't quite remember yet. Ah, it'd come back to him soon enough. He flexed the fingers of his left hand.

Up could feel starched bedsheets beneath his fingers, and from somewhere in the vicinity a faint bleeping sound cut through his hearing. He recognised the feel of the cotton and the sound of the bleeping…this was the medibay, wasn't it? The thoughts began to trickle back. The reconstruction- he'd made it! He'd made it, he was alive…

'Up?' He recognised that voice. '_Up?'_

'T-Taz?' his voice was thick with phlegm, his throat dry. He blinked his watery eyes as she slowly came into focus, shaking his shoulders and staring into his face with concern poorly disguised as impatience.

'Up.' She didn't need to say anything else; the smile she'd been trying to force back broke through, and he could feel her hands grasping his left arm, solid and real, and he knew for certain he'd pulled through.

'Taz! Taz! You're here! And I'm alive!' he found himself sitting up- how did that even work? What about his reconstructed side?- in his woozy but happy state he wasn't really with it. 'Taz, I'm alive, and He…and I…you…Space-Claw…somethin'…' he couldn't form a coherent sentence, but it didn't seem like she cared what he was trying to say.

'I _know_ jou're alive! I'm lookin' at jou! Shut up, already, Up!'

Up snapped his mouth shut in time for her to kiss him violently. He wound his left arm around her waist, tentatively raising his right. Something was wrong here- he could _move it, _he could _feel it_, and yet he _couldn't feel any pain._ It was the same all over, he realised with a strange sense of foreboding.

_This can't be right…_

'Yes, Commander the operation was highly successful,' came the voice of the doctor from behind Taz, and she grudgingly stepped a few inches to the right to allow him access.

Up frowned. 'Ain't it supposed ter…'

'Ah yes, as you have undoubtedly noticed, your mobility is a lot more efficient this time round- we've stimulated the tissue with electric pulse to quicken the process…'

He went on, but the fine print was lost on Up, who was still marvelling at his new arm, and the fact that, were it not for the still-robotic elbow and shoulder joints, it looked as if he'd never lost it in the first place. He'd thought it before and he'd think it again: this cloning stuff was pretty damn clever.

'Your body will remember most things,' the doctor informed him, ' a bit like an organ transplant- that's why you're already moving pretty efficiently, but you will have to keep injecting the tissue for the next few weeks at least with blood and adrenaline and the drugs we've provided to stop your body rejecting the new parts…'

'Yeah, yeah,' Taz cut in impatiently, 'I hate to break up dis lil _fiesta,_ but what is gonna happen about de pain?'  
>Her sharp, cutting question caused the doctor to freeze, giving her a startled look, but Up was relieved she'd asked the question that had been burning on his brain. Last time had been terrible- there were some moments when, lying there in agony, he didn't think he'd have been able to make it through had Taz not been at his side. And that had only been one leg…<p>

The doctor _hmmed_ and furrowed his brow, and neither of them liked that expression- it seemed to say the worst was yet to come.

'Well, what you have to understand…'

Taz, it seemed, hadn't patience enough even for this.

'Cut de _mierda_ embellishments, _cabron,'_ she growled, grabbing a fistful of his medical coat and shaking him, '_what_ is gonna happen and for _how long_?'

'The Commander is currently in no pain,' the doctor sighed, trying to sound calm despite the fact he was all but being held up by his collar, 'due to the considerable amounts of morphine he's been given- but when that wears off, it is going to be difficult for him- especially for the first twenty-four hours.' He turned to Up, keeping his voice light in that irritating fashion doctors tend to adopt when breaking bad news, 'you're in for a tough night.'

Up swallowed, a sinking feeling of dread rushing through his bones.

'Don't panic, _idiota_,' Taz said. 'Jou know I'll take care of jou.'

It was the same thing he'd said to her when he rescued her eight years ago.

* * *

><p><strong>The worst is still to come for Up, I'm afraid...<strong>

**More Tup, more Reilly, more robots,more of the Little Tazzes and explanations of stuff to come...I think.**


	13. Robots won't kill one of their own

**I put my Christmas tree up :D Okay, that was completely irrelevant, I'm just excited :D Anyhow, here's the next chapter. It seems a little fast-paced, but anyway, here 'tis.**

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><p>'<em>Estúpido <em>Holden…_lo odio…'_ Taz kept up a grumbling monologue to herself all throughout dinner, hating Holden for putting her on orderly duties when Up was awake and needed her support. She would make him pay, she vowed. She'd shoved food at people with as much venom as possible, 'accidentally' scalding Criss and spilling gravy all over February, prompting a satisfying shriek from the schience officer. She was now taking out her frustration on the dirty dishes, slamming them into the sink so hard several shattered, as though they personally were responsible for holding her up. Every second- _every second_ she had to waste on this, Up was in the medibay without her. What if the first round of medication was already starting to wear off? She'd promised she would take care of him- and although in her life she'd done some things she said she'd never do, she'd never yet not done something she said she _would_…

This was turning out to be a terrible evening. Up was going to be in pain, Holden had found out something he wouldn't let her know, she was stuck on orderly duty, and what was more, from her view across the mess hall, it looked like Reilly was out of the medibay. Taz couldn't help a little smirk as she noticed the kids from her training session discreetly throwing things at him when their supervising officer's back was turned. She was going to _have to_ make use of them for the greater good, she told herself for about the twelfth time- she hadn't seen such promise in cadets since…ever. That would have to wait, though. Tonight she had other things to take care of- not only did she have to race through these dishes before she could get back to Up, but the rest of her crew were threatening to come by and see her to say goodbye before they went off on their own planet leave.

'Wooah, nice hat, man!'

Speak of the devil. Krayonder's obnoxious voice cut through her ears, and she immediately ripped off the infernal hairnet and hit him repeatedly with it.

Krayonder just laughed a little. 'That didn't hurt.'

'Oh _yeah?'_ Taz grabbed one of the pots from the sink and raised it above her head.

Krayonder screeched for help and ducked behind Specs.

'Well, um…' Bug took a hesitant step forward, tilting his head back to avoid the lethal instrument, 'we just came to say bye, you know, before we go off on our leave…'

'Bug and I are going to visit the bugs, and then we're coming back earth to go shopping for two weeks!' February cut in excitedly.

'…and just to say, you know, well we're probably not gonna get to see Up before tomorrow, so, can you tell him good luck for us?' Bug continued. Taz had set the pot down as he spoke- she had nothing against Bug, he'd proved himself a _maldita multa_ ranger to her when he'd taken down Pincer and sacrificed his human body, and his consideration for their Commander automatically put him on her good side.

She gave the closest thing to a smile her crew were allowed to see.

'_Gracias,_ Bug. Ees appreciated.' She sighed and looked at them all. 'Now get lost, _idiotas…_hey, where's Tootsie and de tin can?'

Tootsie and Megagirl hadn't made the trip to see her- not that she particularly cared about either of them, but it wouldn't do to have disloyal crewmembers.

'Neither are going, Lieutenant,' Specs explained, 'they wish to utilise their leisure moments here at Headquarters.'

Taz frowned. '_¿por qué?'_

'Megagirl plans to use this time to download some more emotions,' Specs explained, 'and understandably, Tootsie won't leave without her.'

Taz rolled her eyes. She's never understand what that _tonto_ saw in Megagirl- she was a robot! At least she wouldn't have to deal with either of them while they were off being _ridiculo_- while the crew were off on their planet leave she wouldn't have to bother with any missions or 15A2- related issues, and she could help Up recover from the reconstruction- which she could start doing if the others would _ever go away._

Bug seemed to sense her growing impatience, and steered the conversation toward a close. 'Yeah, well, we just wanted to let you know we were going, and to check if you were okay…'

Taz was gripping the glass in her hands so tightly she thought it might break. 'Ohh!' she screeched in frustration. 'Just go already, _idiotas!'_

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><p>Taz knew tonight was going to be rough, but it wasn't until she arrived at the infirmary to collect Up and was confronted by the doctor and given several thousand different syringes and pill bottles and about fifty sets of instructions to go with each, not to mention a rather graphic description of the type of pain the Commander was going to be experiencing on and off, that she realised the true gravity of the situation. She squared her shoulders and steeled herself as she listened to the complicated and confusing details. She couldn't let this get to her- she couldn't show, even slightly, that she was scared or concerned. If there was ever a time to be a tough son of a bitch, it was now, when Up couldn't be.<p>

Up had been ready to accept the wheelchair the nurses offered him to get back to his room, but as Taz had insisted, and the doctor had seconded, he needed to get used to using the right side of his body normally as quickly as possible.

'My advice, Lieutenant,' the doctor took her aside just as Up was staggering to the door, 'you need to be tough on him- at least get increasingly tougher, anyway- _force him_ to cope with to the pain until he recovers. We don't want him to become dependent on the painkillers.'

Taz nodded. 'I will. Jou can count on dat.' She gave a quick salute- the sort she reserved for those she might possibly respect (she wasn't sure whether she despised the doctor for putting Up through this or felt gratitude towards him for getting Up through this alive) and turned to minister to the Commander.

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><p>Taz could tell just by looking at Up that it was <em>definitely<em> going to take longer this time- and be much worse. She could tell by the wince Up made as he lay down beside her. She could tell by the lines of gruesomely thick stitches down his chest where the skin grafts needed extra reinforcement. Most importantly, she could tell by the fear in his eyes- he could hide it in his face, but not in those blue irises. There was something in his face, though, in the set of his jaw, in the way he refused to admit to her he was concerned, that told her he would get back up from this. He would have to.

_And she would make damn sure._

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><p>Up stared at the ceiling as Taz pushed the needle into his arm. He shut his eyes- the injection itself didn't bother him, but the thought of the tumultuous night to follow, once the painkillers wore off, worried him. He had Taz, he had to remember that. She'd help him through this.<p>

'Hey.'

He turned his head towards her and she smiled.

'I'm gonna have to be tough on jou, okay? Jou want painkillers, I'll make jou wait a little longer each time- jou gotta get back up from dis.'

Up made an unhappy noise and she squeezed his hand, rather more bone-crunchingly than he would have liked.

'Don't panic, _idiota._ Jou know I'll take care of jou.' There. She'd said it again. Her voice was gentle, with none of the gruffness it usually carried. She moved closer, cautiously curling up beside him and resting one hand on the left side of his chest. She flicked the TV remote, and _the Karate Kid_ started to play quietly, lulling both of them into a comfortable state as they awaited the inevitable.

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><p>The doctor had been right. The first reconstruction paled in comparison. Up's shouts of pain sliced through Taz's dreams, and she sat up abruptly, terrified at first that the stuff of her nightmares was leaking through into reality. Up was on his back, eyes clamped shut, a grable of words and phrases and swearing spilling from his mouth, the unbearable agony written all over his face. It frightened Taz to see him like this, his cries reminding her too much of the day she'd watched the robots cut him vertically in half.<p>

'Up, no, shh,' she murmured again and again, running her hand up and down his left arm, not daring to touch the right side for fear of doing him further harm.

'Up, it's okay, don't…' she reached across to the bedside table, frantically scrabbling for one of the syringes of painkiller.

It took several tormenting seconds before it began to kick in, minutes before his shouts and gasps subsided into normal breathing, and his entire newly reconstructed side felt the effects of it. She held her own breath as he exhaled slowly, heavily, his chest shuddering as it rose and fell.

Taz ran her fingers lightly across his shoulders as he opened his eyes again, careful to avoid the stitches.

'Sorry, Taz,' he whimpered.

'Don't apologise, _idiota_,' she hissed, tentatively kissing him. 'Dat wasn't so bad.' She propped herself up on her elbow, watching over him protectively until the drowsiness from the medication began to take effect again.

* * *

><p>'Come on, Up, five more minutes!' It was killing Taz to see Up like this, every time he woke up screaming harder than the last, but despite her exhaustion and fear, she forced herself to stay strong. Up's temperature had soared to a dangerous level, and he thrashed about in the sheets as it raged, the motion further aggravating the pain in his arm and torso, and Taz frantically applied wet cloths and implored him to wait it out a little longer.<p>

'I...I can't…'

It would be the easiest thing in the world to just give in, give him what he wanted, give him the drugs, but Up hadn't trained Taz all these years to be weak like that. He'd want her to force him to fight, and she wouldn't let him down.

'_Escúchame_! Jou _can_ do it!' she shouted. 'Jou are _one tough son of a bitch_-are jou gonna let a little pain get jou down?'

'_I can't do it!'_

'Listen to me, _idiota!_' she was really yelling now, firmly pushing aside any twinges of guilt she had about it. She had to be tough on him. 'Jou've fought t'rough _hundreds_ of robot battles, jou've survived being cut in half, jou killed dose _cucarachas_ wid jour heart! Jou got t'rough dat, jou can get t'rough dis too! Jou just gotta _get-back-up!_'

The more he protested, the more she shouted at him, and it was only once a lengthy period of time had passed and Up had fallen asleep of his own accord that she realised he'd been concentrating on her voice. He _wanted_ her to shout at him.

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><p>It was the early hours of the morning- an ungodly hour by anyone's standards, but Doctor Space-Claw, head of the whole Galactic League, was where he had been every pre-dawn for the past few weeks- on his balcony overlooking the grounds of the G.L.E.E. Headquarters. It wasn't that he was nervous or worried or that his conscience was eating at him- Space-Claw had very little in the way of feelings left- but he had found of late that all his best ideas came to him at night. Right now he was considering his next strategy- the Farm Planet invasion was almost complete, and to the best of his knowledge, Holden and the others had only just found out about it, and it was too late to reverse what had already been done. What he really needed, he schemed, was a base, for the robots to be built and repaired- far away enough from earth that it wouldn't be immediately spotted, but in a strategic position where he could send out legions in all directions. He would have to go through his lists and narrow down his options, but right now his wife had joined him and was trying to get her head around his previous evil plans; scratching her pin-curled head at his explanation of the reconstruction.<p>

'But I thought you said the Commander needed to die…'

Space-Claw's new wife was tactless, it couldn't be denied. If she spoke any louder her voice would carry through the very walls, and then one of the lower-ranking officers might hear. Perhaps when he was through with the most threatening of the Starship Rangers, she would have to be next on his hit-list- ever since he'd married her she'd made herself a nuisance, interfering with his evil plans.

'No,' he said, the mouthpiece on his helmet giving his voice a metallic edge, 'I said it would have been easier. Either way, the reconstruction was necessary- almost fifty percent of Commander Up's body was robotic.'

His spouse blinked her huge eyes at him, uncomprehending.

'It was necessary to restore Commander Up to an almost fully-human state,' Space-Claw exhaled heavily- how did he explain this to amateurs? 'If he attempted to fight in the new upcoming robot war, his robotic half may have meant he would have been relatively unscathed- robots won't kill one of their own. And if they won't kill him, we won't be able to defeat the human race… but now he is restored to eighty-seven per cent human tissue it won't be difficult for them to dispose of him the same way as any other meddling member of the League… ' he broke off into a wicked laugh. 'They said I was mad at the Academy, but _who's mad now?'_

'Sweetie…I don't get it.'

Space-Claw's wickedly good mood evaporated. 'Forget it.'

* * *

><p>Up opened his eyes and wondered how long he'd actually been asleep this time. His right side felt heavy; he couldn't move it at all, and as such he lay still, wondering if he could go back to sleep and take advantage of his numbness. He turned his head slightly, a smile creeping across his face as he saw the familiar head of dark hair against the pillow beside him. The blankets were drawn all the way up to Taz's chin, and she lay very still, drained by her efforts to calm him throughout the night. He watched the covers rise and fall as she breathed, overwhelmed with appreciation for her.<p>

Last night was just a blur of burning, blinding agony. At some points the agony was the only thing he could comprehend, searing through him so fiercely that he could have sworn it seeped through into his left side as well- he couldn't tell where the pain began and where it ended. He'd clung onto every shred of Taz's voice he could hear like it was the only thing keeping him sane, letting it fill his ears.

Partway through that torturous night, he'd heard her lose her patience; her shouting ringing through his brain. He'd made out several Spanish insults and the phrase _'get back up' _a few times, and it had registered in some dark corner of his mind that this was tough on her too, but all he could do at the time was be thankful for the yelling. It kept him focused; reminded him of Taz's anger, of her fiery spirit and her determination. It reminded him to get back up, like he'd always told her, and now, it seemed, like she was always telling him.

The alarm screeched into his consciousness just as he felt himself drifting off, and he watched through slit-eyes as Taz's arm appeared in a flash and slammed it so hard it flew across the room. Up could have sworn he heard it break. He kept his eyes as close to convincingly shut as possible, looking through his eyelashes as Taz grumbled and started to get up. She looked exhausted. Up's eyes drifted closed against his will, and he tried pathetically to stay awake, listening as she rattled around the room, gathering various things, and then to the sound of the bathroom door opening and shutting.

Up must have dozed for a few moments, because when he next parted his eyelids Taz was standing over him, uniform crisp and hair dripping wet, one hand on his forehead.

'Jour temperature's gone down,' she said, running her hand across his brow. 'Jou in any pain?' She rattled a bottle of painkillers in front of his face, and he weakly shook his head.

'Can't feel nothin' at all right now,' he murmured, and attempted to smile.

She smiled back, and her hand was replaced with her lips. ' _Volver a dormir_. I'll be back soon.'

Up blinked. 'Where ya goin'?'

'I'll be back soon,' she repeated. 'Stay tough.' And then she was gone, and Up found himself slipping back into sleep.

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><p>Although she hated to do it, Taz skipped several parts of her workout- she had something important to do before she returned to Up. There was no chance of him coping on his own- at least not for a while. She'd made up her mind to stay with him until he was capable of looking after himself- not that there was a single night she <em>hadn't<em> stayed with him since that first kiss, but if she was going to do this properly, she needed to get a few of her things.

Taz pressed the door release and stepped into the familiar few square feet that were hers- she realised as she did she hadn't slept in there for a long time. Not that she could honestly say she cared that much- the room held no specific value to her other than a place to stay in at night. She only came here now to change and get her various weapons, and it suddenly hit her, as she pulled out all her drawers and dumped her collection of zappers and knives onto the floor, that she now subconsciously thought of Up's quarters as 'home'. Taz paused at her shelf, removing books which held special significance to her, and then yanked her wardrobe open, tossing spare uniforms onto the pile and then gathering the whole lot into her arms. As the Hispanic girl struggled to get the load through the doorway, the adjacent door slid away and Criss emerged, whistling an annoying tune and fiddling with the collar of a yellow shirt that clashed horribly with his uniform. He glanced over at his fellow Lieutenant, trying to suppress a guffaw.

'Movin' out?'

'Up can't be left alone for a while, _cabron_,' Taz muttered, squinting at the shirt in disbelief.

'You want some help?'

Taz clutched the bundle possessively and wished she had a free hand to throw something. As it was she had to resort to kicking out at him, a movement the vain Lieutenant could easily dodge.

'I don't need jour help, _idiota_! I can carry my own damn stuff, _entender_?'

Grinning evilly at Taz's semi-helpless and harmless state, Criss pushed his boundaries just a little more.

'Are ya sure that's the _real_ reason you're movin' in with him?' he raised his eyebrows, giving her a look that fell short of innocent, and fancying he could already taste his money.

Taz fumed. 'I _told _jou, _idiota_, Up can't be left alone right now! I am sick of hearing about dis _estupido_ bet jou and Krayonder got, now _put jour hand against de wall, _'cause when I come back, I am gonna throw my knife, and jou are gonna get it!'

Criss shrank back, wailing apologies and pleas for her not to knife him, and Taz shot him one more acid look before turning on her heel and stalking off towards the Commanders' hallway.

'And take dat shirt off!' she growled over her shoulder. 'Ees not uniform.' Criss looked sadly down at his attire and disappeared back into his quarters.

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><p>Taz had almost made it back to Up's room when the first crash sounded from somewhere deep within the Headquarters, followed by a lot of shouting and blundering footsteps. She paused outside the door, craning her neck to hear what was going on. Rangers were running back and forth down the hall, a mass of panicked individuals crashing into each other and fumbling for their zappers.<p>

'What's going on?' she called, but no-one paid her any attention. They were all frantic, various commander shouting clashing orders which were ignored by all.

'_What de hell is going on?' _Taz screeched.

'Oh, ma'am! Ma'am!' Before the Hispanic girl had time to comprehend, Tootsie Megagirl was upon her, red in the face and tears in his eyes.

'_Que pasa?'_

'Ma'am…it's…I just…Megagirl…so shiny…Farm…Planet…' and he was off, babbling at such a speed and slur that Taz couldn't make out any of it, although she could have sworn the infamous stack-of-hay cousin was mentioned somewhere.

She grabbed hold of Tootsie's shoulders, shaking him hard. 'Calm down, _idiota! _Tell me what's happened!'

'Taz!' While the Farm Planet ranger continued to sob, Crawford had emerged, more self-possessed but still looking desperately worried. 'You gotta come now- it's an emergency!'

Taz hesitated, casting a concerned glance at Up's door.

'Commander Up'll be fine- he's safe in there. It's us that are in danger!'

Taz dropped the bundle she was carrying and sprinted after Crawford and towards the sound of the screams.


	14. The wrath of Megagirl

**Muchos gracias, terima kasih, merci beaucoup, thank you and quack quack quack to all of you who reviewed (five house points if you can guess all the languages I have thanked you in). Also, many thanks to my totally awesome beta for helping me come up with the names of the Little Tazzes.  
>Here's ch14. Have fun, chil'rens! Dur dur dur.<strong>

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><p>By the time Taz reached the source of the trouble, the screams had died down somewhat, but the rangers were gathered in terrified groups around the locked mess hall, zappers raised and poised to shoot at the shut doors. Terrible sounds were issuing from inside- smashes and blasts as if everything combustible (and several metal objects) were being blown up. She turned to Crawford with a questioning look.<p>

'De hell is _dat_?'

_Kill…destroy…crush…_

The metallic words resonated from within the room, and Taz blinked at the familiar voice.

'Megagirl?'

Crawford nodded.' Her circuits have gone haywire and she's trying to kill everyone.'

Tootsie burst into tears again. Taz's eyes widened in surprise. Now that Crawford mentioned it, it was definitely Ultrabeam Megagirl in there, trashing the mess hall, but she'd thought…

'Dat metal bitch!' Taz shrieked. 'I _knew _we couldn't trust her! I'm gonna go in dere and…'

Crawford's hands were on either of her shoulders before she could move. 'Calm down, Taz…'

'_Calm down? _We've let a _killer robot_ into our Headquarters, she's tricked us into thinking she was one of us…'

It took Crawford and two other rangers to restrain Taz and prevent her from bursting through the door and blowing Megagirl to pieces.

'_Listen_, Taz, we didn't bring you here to kill one of your crewmembers. We've got her locked in there 'til we can figure out what to do-we need to get in there somehow and fit her with a new inhibitor chip without losing any of our rangers.'

A _new_ inhibitor chip? The sentence stopped the Lieutenant short, and she shook her head ferociously, trying to understand. _'Que?'_

'Before we do anything there are some things you should know.' Crawford leaned on his zapper, staring at her solemnly. 'An army of robots invaded Farm Planet yesterday.'

The breath caught in Taz's throat. Behind her, Tootsie wailed and several rangers shushed him for fear of being heard by Megagirl.

'Why di'n jou _idiotas_ tell me?' the Hispanic girl snarled, realising with a start that things were starting to make sense now- this certainly shed light on the distress call Holden had received when she was in his office- the one he hadn't let her stay to hear. It infuriated her to think nobody had bothered to fill her in on something so significant- but then, she realised, the image of Up asleep in his quarters returning to her, she'd had other things on her mind, other important issues to take care of…

'What's all dat got to do wit' Megagirl?' was the next thought that sprang to mind.

Crawford drew in a breath, as he often did before launching into a long explanation. 'Tootsie was understandably upset to find out that all his brothers and sisters, not to mention several stacks of hay he was fond of,' he shot the ranger a quizzical look, 'were in danger of extermination. He…volunteered to help us battle the robots and take back Farm Planet and I…don't think he realised this would have an effect on his wife. You do know the saying, right? Robots…'

'Won't kill one of deir own,' Taz finished, nodding.

'Megagirl ain't no killer robot!' came the hick's protest from behind her. 'She's real…and beauty-ful and shiny and she luurves me!'

It still didn't all quite fit. 'De _idiota_ is right abou' dat- if dat tin can t'inks it loves him and he doesn't t'ink of her as a robot, den why did it still affect…'

'From what I've heard, Megagirl was in the process of downloading new human emotions- and when she heard the news she was in the middle of loading 'rage.'' Crawford's expression darkened. 'When Tootsie asked about saving his family from the other robots, her in-built robotic rage surfaced- it clashed with the human rage and blew up her inhibitor chip. She's forgotten all human emotions and memories and has gone back to her default setting.'

Taz swore. 'Then de metal bitch is gonna kill us all unless we kill it first! Let me in dere!'

She made another lunge for the mess hall door and Crawford was quick to grab her by the arm.

'Nobody is killing Megagirl and that is an order!'

'Jou're not my Commander!' Taz shouted.

'I'm _a_ Commander- and therefore still your superior.' He twiddled his cap in the way that made Taz want to choke him, and she clenched her fists so tightly her fingernails left little dents in her hands. 'And all of us here have agreed that the best course of action is to remove Megagirl's battery, replace her inhibitor chip and wipe 'rage' from her memory banks while she's down.'

Taz was really getting furious. 'Den whey haven't jou done dat already? Jou've all been running around like _pollos_, just get in dere and stun de tin can already!'

'It took us nearly an hour to lock her in the mess hall!' one of Crawford's ensigns wailed. '_And_ that was risky enough- four rangers have been shot and sent to the medibay, we're lucky she hasn't directly hit anyone yet!'

It hit her then, and she couldn't help rolling her eyes. 'Jou're too _asustado _to do it jourselves, and jou want _me_ to do it.'

'Well,' one of the rangers shuffled his foot, 'you _are_ the toughest ranger in the G.L.E.E….'

'And the best at dealing with robots…' another added.

'And no-one else would do it,' Crawford admitted grudgingly.

'_We_ offered to,' came a somewhat familiar, impudent female voice, and the Commander adjusted his hat again and shook his head.

'No-one else _qualified _would do it,' he clarified.

Taz turned her gaze to the speaker, and found herself face to face with the same four cadets again. She might have known they'd be the only ones with enough sense to volunteer for a mission like this. Taz felt herself swell with liking again.

'Fine, _idiota_, we'll go fix dat _estupido_ robot before she escapes again. What do I have to do?'

Crawford took one step back. _'We?'_

'_What do I have to do?'_ Taz gave a menacing growl, and Crawford's science officer (a far more qualified individual than February) stepped forward to hand her the inhibitor chip and instruct her on how to reprogram Megagirl. Taz, already having some instruction in robotics, found she knew most of the directions already, but nodded anyway, listening carefully unless she had forgotten something.

'What do you mean 'we'?' Crawford said again, but was ignored.

'If she had downloaded them emotions like I said she'd still be okay,' Tootsie said forlornly. 'If my lovely wifey had done 'em alpha-bet-ick-ally she'da done 'rage' first and she'd not be mad at me now…'

'How'd you figure _that_?' one of the rangers asked.

'Well, 'rage' starts with an 'r', and 'r' starts with an 'a'…'

Taz turned away from the science officer to give him a disbelieving look. '_¿cómo llegaste tan estúpido?_' she murmured, before turning back to Crawford, a look of grim determination on her face. 'We'll go take down dis robot before she kills any of de rangers.' She smirked at the recruits and jerked her head for them to follow. 'Come along.'

Crawford's jaw dropped in horror. 'Taz? You're not thinking of taking those cadets with you? Lieutenant!'

They were already gone, sprinting for the corridors.

* * *

><p>Up woke up disoriented, head spinning so fast he couldn't tell whether the room was upside down or he was, or neither, sharp stabs running through every vein, artery and nerve in his right side. He shut his eyes again, as though this action alone could dull the torment, biting his lip to trap the shout of pain that was trying to escape him.<p>

Up tried to keep his breathing even, to stop the frenzied panic that was trying to overtake him. He gritted his teeth, calling one name through the gaps.

'Taz?'

No answer.

'_Taz?'_ he called again, more pitifully, his voice laced with the evidence of his suffering. Still no answer. She'd said she was ducking out for a few minutes, he reminded himself- but that was at six o'clock. How long would he have to wait til she got back? He lunged out with his left arm, trying to use it to move himself toward the edge of the bed, the pain searing and burning as he did so, and he squeaked inadvertently as he summoned his strength and leaned over the edge and glanced at the broken alarm clock. 09:12. _What was she doing?_

Up laid his head back into his pillow, twisting the fingers of his left hand into the sheets and clutching at them in the hope he could get through his torture this way. All the syringes and bottles that might help ease the feeling lay cluttered on the bedside table, several knocked over and swept across so they sat precariously close to falling off, from when Taz had bashed at the clock earlier this morning. They seemed to be watching him- he didn't know how that was possible for inanimate objects, laughing at him, taunting and tempting him, but Up didn't know which was which, let alone whether he could manage to manoeuvre himself back over to get one and _then_ take it as well.

'Taz?' he croaked pathetically one more time, far less optimistic that he would receive an answer. She wasn't here. He'd have to deal with this on his own.

Up screwed his eyes up as tightly as they would go and dredged up every pleasant memory of Taz he could think of, letting them engulf his mind and help him settle into the frame of mind that she was here, and taking care of him.

* * *

><p>Taz lay flat on her stomach, surrounded by the metal walls of the air vents, the grill in front of her face partially obscuring her view. Somewhere below her the fizzling, bleeping sounds indicated Megagirl's circuits were still scrambling. As she waited for phase two of her plan to take off, she went over the names of her cadets in her head, trying to put each one correctly to a face.<p>

_BrianHenryKellyDenise…_

She'd been impressed by their bravery in volunteering to help with Megagirl, especially after all those fully-grown rangers had chickened out of the task, and she'd been oddly flattered at their excitement at being allowed to come with her and take down the robot. Very few people respected her in this way without a great deal of fear being involved, and Taz liked the idea that she could mould and mentor these cadets.

She also knew when she got out of here, Holden would have her head for giving unqualified rangers zappers and allowing them to use them without official instruction, but Taz knew for a fact she'd teach them more than any of the other _idiotas_ here. What better way to get practical instruction on taking down robots than to actually take down a robot?

There was a loud thwomping sound, and she inched a little further forward, peering through the bars. Megagirl was karate-chopping one of the locked doors, her metal joints squeaking as she raised her arm and brought it down on the deactivated door release in an attempt to get out.

'Prepare to die, puny hu-mans,' her metallic voice grated, free from the slight tint of emotion it had developed over the past few months, and Taz's shoulders shook with loathing. She'd only just gotten over her utter hatred for her robotic crewmember, and now it seemed their mutual truce was unjustified. The robot had gone back to her killer ways, and Taz was sure, even when she had fixed the inhibitor chip, she would never forgive Megagirl. Never.

She squinted across the room, noting the other vent on the other side, Kelly and Denise waiting for her instructions. Beside her, Henry inched a little closer to the front, holding the unfamiliar zapper like it was the most valuable thing he would ever own.

'Set jour zapper to 'stun',' Taz murmured to him, adjusting her own accordingly. 'More's de pity we can't kill de metal bitch.'

Henry gave a smirk that reminded Taz so much of Up it scared her. _If we'd ever had a kid,_ she thought wistfully, _he'd have been like dis._

Megagirl was withdrawing from the door, her limbs creaking as she started across the hall towards the other one. Taz slowly pushed the muzzle of her zapper through the gap, keeping her movements light and careful- she knew from experience that Megagirl had radar sensors that could watch her back for her. Henry followed suit, and Taz raised her hand to signal the other three.

The robot reached the middle of the room, Taz brought her hand down, and the shots rained down from all sides. Never having used these weapons before, most of their hits went wide, but the Lieutenant was impressed nonetheless- it was better than most cadets achieved first try. Unfortunately, the barrage of zaps alerted Megagirl to their presence, and before any of them could react, she'd swung around, her hands dropping down to let loose several rounds of laser beams. Taz shifted onto her back, kicking down the grate and pushing herself out into the hall.

Megagirl's torso twisted around one hundred and eighty degrees, the guns in her hands clicking as they reloaded, and Taz leapt, landing on her shoulders and grabbing hold of her neck. The robot's arms swiped upwards, snatching at the Hispanic girl as she lunged at her back, scrabbling with both hands to unscrew the battery compartment. One steely hand took hold of her leg, and before she could prise the back off the compartment Taz felt the room spinning, and the slam of her head against the table.

Stars exploded in front of her eyes and suddenly Megagirl's face was multiplied by eight, all blurring together and apart, and fifteen guns were raised at her face, which turned into three, then nine, then one then four and it didn't matter how many there were because she was about to get shot in the face either way.

* * *

><p>'What's wrong with a yellow shirt anyway?' Criss asked his mirror, striking a pose for himself and immediately wishing someone was there to take a picture. 'I look, well, super-mega-foxy-awesome-hot in yellow!' He considered Taz's warning. She was probably just tense- Up was undergoing some pretty rough surgery, and if they still hadn't…yeah, she couldn't have really meant what she'd said. Still, if she stabbed his beautiful hands he didn't know what he'd do…<p>

Criss ambled over to the wardrobe and flicked through the array of brightly-coloured items of clothing, settling on a rather garish maroon number. Maroon shirt and G.L.E.E. cargo pants…he reckoned he could pull that off. He shrugged the shirt on over his shoulders and examined the effect the colour had against his skin. Yep, that would look _awesome. _Of course, his hair would need doing too…

He stole a glance at his clock.

1141.

Criss's mouth made an 'o' shape. Nearly four hours late to his crew meeting…Crawford wouldn't be happy, and it'd take him at least another hour to change, if he did it right…

_Well,_ he reasoned, _no-one's come lookin' for me- they can't be doin' anything _that_ urgent…_

Having made up his mind, he grabbed a hairbrush and got to work on himself.

* * *

><p>Taz heard the click as Megagirl prepared to fire, but the resounding blasting noise sounded distant to her ears, and she wondered if she'd died so quickly it hadn't had time to hurt. Her head continued to throb, but that wasn't a new wound, she realised, that was just where she'd hit it on the table…<p>

And then the robot crumpled in front of her, landing on the ground with a _clunk,_ and Brian stood before her, clutching his zapper and looking incredibly pleased with himself. Taz's eyes widened, and she pulled herself to her feet, impressed.

'Nice work, kid,' she mused, cautiously approaching the Megagirl unit. 'Now help me flip dis thing over.'

It took the combined effort of all five of them to figure out how to erase the offending emotion, Denise finally cracking the method of rewiring her, and it was at least another hour's work before they'd properly clicked the inhibitor chip into place. Taz swayed a little as she stood up, wondering briefly if she had a concussion, and dusting herself off absently.

The four cadets heaved Megagirl to her feet, Kelly carefully pushing the battery into position and closing her back, and they backed away, zappers at the ready as the android raised her head.

'Please state a command for me to service you.'

* * *

><p>Crawford had taken off his cap, and he was wringing it in his hands as he stared ahead at the door to the mess hall. The shouting and shooting and scuffling sounds had ceased a long time ago- could have been hours, for all he knew- but he didn't know whether he should open the door. Anything could have happened in there- and Taz had <em>kids<em> with her, for goodness' sake- but he wouldn't risk the lives of any of the other rangers checking. Holden had messaged him several times, and each time he'd grovelled profusely about Taz's rash actions, praying she brought all four cadets out alive or he'd be in for it for sure.

Something banged against the door, and the group of rangers raised their zappers defensively, crouching and preparing themselves for a shoot-out if need be.

'Open de damn door, _hijos de puta!' _came the furious call, and Crawford straightened up at once.

'Do what she says, rangers! It's Taz!'

Taz all but collapsed through the opening that appeared, filthy and panting. Crawford held his breath, exhaling a little as one, two, three, four cadets followed, and sucking it in again as Megagirl creaked towards them.

'M-Megagirl?' Tootsie took a hesitant step forward, ignorant of the others' attempts to hold him back. 'Honey?'

'Tootsie- my love,' came the metallic reply, the steel mouth forming something similar to a smile, and that was all the Farm Planet ranger needed, running forward and grabbing hold of his wife.

'Aw, hell, Megagirl, let's never fight again!'

Crawford exchanged a glance with Taz, and she rolled her eyes and shook her head.

* * *

><p>Taz returned to Up's quarters over ten hours later than planned, sweaty and covered in oil and dust from the air vents, a bunch of incident reports stuffed in her hands which she had little interest in filling in. Her eyes were heavy from the draining task of reprogramming Megagirl, her ears still buzzing from the compliments Holden had given her on her quick thinking, interspersed with the reprimands she'd received at defying orders and putting minors in danger, and her head was overhung with the threat of another week of orderly duties to follow. He'd kept her in his office for one hell of a long time.<p>

_Mierda. All I wanted was to take care of Up today._

It was all Junior's fault, Taz decided on reflection- who put a robot into a rescue mission anyway? If he hadn't been there on that mission to Bug World, he wouldn't have sent that _estúpido _robot down to the planet and none of this would have happened…

She stopped herself there. If Junior had never sent Megagirl down there, she wouldn't have been caught by the bugs, they'd never have met Bug, the whole chain of events that led to her and Up getting together would never have happened, and she could never regret that. She'd never have realised her feelings were this strong, she'd never have realised that, even when she was shouting at him and insulting him for being 'soft', he still liked her, nor that she still cared for him. No, she couldn't regret Megagirl being part of their team, no matter how much she despised the robotic woman.

She had every right to be furious that everyone had been so irresponsible as to keep from her the fact that Farm Planet had been invaded, though. She could have prevented this whole thing, if she'd known. They were going to send a few different teams down there to take down the robots, and as soon as Up was up and about and the rest of the crew of Starship 15A2 were home, it'd be likely they would be joining them, but Taz hadn't the energy to dwell on that now.

She passed through the Lieutenants' hall- only one more turn and she'd be in the Commanders' quarters, and at his door, when she walked right into a familiar figure.

Purple fabric filled her eyes, and Taz repressed the desire to retch.

'Criss? What are jou _wearing?'_

He shot her what he thought was a charming smile. 'You told me to get changed, so,' he gestured to his new outfit, which, in Taz's eyes was far from an improvement, 'ta-dah! I took the yellow shirt off.'

'Where de _hell_ were jou?' she snapped, fuming as she watched him take in her dirty, tired state, the weapon hanging from her arm, the ice she was holding to her forehead to bring down the swelling from when Megagirl had smashed her onto one of the tables in the mess hall. 'Dere was an emergency- we could have all been killed, it was important- _why de hell weren't jou dere?'_

Criss looked affronted. 'I was getting changed!'

'For _eight hou- '_ Taz stopped herself. She'd wasted enough time on this _bastardo_ as it was. '_Me doy por vencido!'_

The other Lieutenant stared after her as she stormed off. 'What'd I do?'

* * *

><p>Up's eyes were swimming as he peeled them open, a watery figure leaning over him. He moaned slightly, slowly lifting his right arm and flexing his fingers as he reached out. He experienced only a faint buzzing sensation in his arm now, and he exhaled in relief at this- hopefully he'd be back to normal soon enough. As his retinas brought everything properly into focus, the blurry figure turned into Taz, and his mouth turned upwards into a smile.<p>

'Where'd you go?' he mumbled.

She leaned down and kissed him. '_No te preocupes. _Just out dere dealin' wid robots, being tough, jou know…'

He laughed lightly. 'Sounds like you.' Up yawned, part of him surprised that, after an entire day in bed, he was still tired. 'Time is it?' he asked groggily.

' 'Bout twenty-one hundred hours,' Taz replied, sliding in next to him and slumping down against the pillows. 'Jou in any pain?'

Up hesitated, unsure whether to mention the episode earlier on. He didn't want to cause Taz any unnecessary worry- after all, he'd gotten over it fairly quickly, he thought, but on the other hand, if she thought he was better before he'd fully recovered, would that have any adverse effects?

'Naw,' he replied after a moment's deep thought, ''m okay.'

'_Eso es bueno,'_ Taz slurred, and Up felt her relax beside him, her breathing instantly slow and heavy. He smirked to himself, his moustache twitching, and wrapped his arms around her slumbering form. _What _was_ she doing all day?_

* * *

><p><strong>More TUp to come in ch15, as well as other stuff. Until then, Mama loves you, chil'rens. (I've suddenly turned into Umbridge for reasons unknown.) <strong>


	15. El sueño de la razón produce monstruos

**Thanks once again, all you guys, for your lovely reviews, even if I don't deserve them...**

**Random little bit of trivia: this chapter is named after an artwork by Goya, and translates to mean 'the sleep of reason produces monsters.' It's only partially relevant to this chapter, but whatever.**

**And so...**

* * *

><p>'No…<em>deberías habérmelo dicho…<em>Up, _lo que necesita saber…¿por qué no me dijiste acerca de los robots…'_

'Taz!'

Taz jerked awake to find she had kicked all the covers off the bed. It was still dark, but the moon shining through the window provided enough light for her to see Up, his arms around her shoulders and his face worried.

She blinked, wiping sleep crusts off her eyes. 'What?'

She sat up abruptly, suddenly very alert. 'Jou in pain?'

'Naw, Taz, I'm fine…are you okay? You were yellin' a lot…'

Taz shook her head, trying to sift back through her sleeping thoughts. She couldn't remember much of her dream. 'I was?'

'Yeah…you sure you're okay?'

'_¿por qué…_what'd I say?'

Up ran a hand absently through her hair. 'I 'unno, Taz, it was all in Spanish. Sounded pretty bad though, from yer tone of voice… somethin' about robots, maybe, I could only make out a coupla words.'

'Oh.' Taz shut her eyes and tried once more to remember. She hadn't yet told Up about the Farm Planet invasion, nor the fact that Megagirl had gone haywire and that in a few weeks they'd all be going down to fight, but then again, she hadn't had much of a chance to. She'd merely staggered into the room and gone straight to sleep, the effort of taking on one of her own crewmembers coupled with the sudden news all weighing down on her. It was probably something to do with that, but she wasn't going to tell him now, not in the middle of the night, not when he was still recovering. She faked a yawn.

'Oh well.'

Up lay back and Taz settled into her habitual position on his left side, burying her face in his shoulder as he pulled all the covers back up. He was warm and smelt like sleep, and Taz instantly felt her consciousness becoming fuzzy again. She shut her eyes and let herself doze.

'Hey, Taz?' Up sounded as though he'd been meditating on something profound, and she raised her head to squint at him. 'Do you always dream in Spanish?'

She sat up slightly. 'Why'd jou ask?'

'Dunno. Just wondered.'

Taz considered. 'I never really thought about it._ Español,_ I t'ink.'

'What, always?' Up sounded terribly excited, like he'd made some new and fascinating discovery. If Taz hadn't been so confused as to why he even cared, she probably would have gotten annoyed.

'Dat I can remember. Everyone always talks to me in Spanish- jou do, too.' She instantly regretted this admission as Up raised his eyebrows, and she knew he was going to keep pestering her.

'Really? I do?' She could see his pupils darting about; he was trying to picture it. She knew how his mind worked. 'What do I say?'

'Oh, _who cares!'_ Taz snapped, the thread of her patience finally breaking. 'Shut up, Up! _Estoy tratando de dormir!'_

Up mumbled an apology and settled back down, and Taz shut her eyes and tried to forget her annoyance. It was different in dreams. He had a perfect accent when he spoke but he still sounded like himself, somehow. She often dreamed about him when she was worried- the few snatches of sleep she'd managed to get during the second reconstruction had all thrown about her fear that he mightn't survive, and more times than she'd cared to count she'd seen him be sawn in half by Optimus Prime again and again. Just recently, though, during those moments when there was nothing to fret about, he'd cropped up for different reasons. On these occasions, whenever he appeared in her unconscious thoughts he tended to turn up, tell her he loved her and then go back to fighting robots or whatever else he should have been doing in the first place.

Well, she sure as hell wasn't going to tell him _that._

'_Buenos noches,'_ she murmured, slinging an arm over his chest and letting her hand rest on his shoulder, where the metal now sat surrounded by reconstructed skin. 'Again.'

Up's left arm closed around her shoulders. 'G'night, hon.'

Taz smiled against his collarbone. She still loved it when he called her that. She wouldn't admit it, though. She _was_ tough, after all.

* * *

><p>They didn't have much time now before all the others came back. It had been another week before Taz decided Up was stable enough to hear the news about the robots. As she'd secretly hoped, he'd flown into almost as much of a rage as she had with Holden for not telling him sooner, and the rest of that week had been spent in training, practising combat and weapons to help Up get used to his new right side as quickly as possible before Starship 15A2 set off for Farm Planet and the robots. Taz had been impressed with his progress- it had taken him two years to pull himself together after his robot side had been built- but then again, he'd been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and had forgotten how to be tough, and this time he was human, and had Taz by his side. Why shouldn't he recover quicker? A couple of times Brian, Henry, Kelly and Denise had come along to learn a thing or two while they sparred, and Up had become as fond of the group as Taz, affectionately nicknaming them 'the Little Tazzes' due to their unwavering admiration of the Lieutenant, and despite the fact that they were all significantly taller than her.<p>

The last day before the crew came back they spent together, without work or training or any interviews with General Holden- it was a bit like being back on vacation again. Fed up with staying in Up's room (especially Up, who'd been trapped in bed for days after his reconstruction), they opted not to watch 'the Karate Kid' for the several hundredth time, and instead took a walk around the grounds, ending up in their usual place.

Up looked around and realised he hadn't been in this little courtyard for months- not since they'd returned from Bug World. Then he'd only just regained his 'tough-ness', he'd chatted to Bug about becoming a Starship Ranger and tortured himself wondering whether or not Taz liked him the way he liked her. It had only been on Bug World he'd realised his true feelings for Taz, after struggling with them for so long, after trying without success to force the labels 'Taz' and 'sister' together and realising at long last that they wouldn't fit because he felt a deeper bond with her. He'd remembered inadvertently thinking the word 'love' and then spending ages pondering the question, _since when did I 'love' Taz?_

So much had changed since then. He wasn't half-robot any more; only a few joints remained gleaming and mechanical, and he barely noticed those when he looked in the mirror. He'd almost fully recovered from two reconstructions, one of which he'd been sufficiently paranoid about to think he wouldn't survive, subconsciously remembering movements a lot quicker than he'd expected and proving that together, medical intervention and the human body were a clever team. True, the right side still occasionally lost all feeling and gave out on him the way his leg had, but that, just like his leg, was sure to stop in time, he figured.

And most importantly, his relationship with Taz had certainly changed. Just as he'd worked up the courage to admit his feelings, Taz herself had surprised him with the revelation that she'd liked him all along (although not in so many words, and with a lot more insults and violence thrown in) and now they were back here, sitting on the bench they'd always sat on, his arm draped around her like he'd wanted it to for so long.

It was the first proper time they'd had alone since their planet leave- not counting the hours Taz had spent guiding him through the pain of his operations and sparring with him to help rebuild his muscle mass, because really, you couldn't count those, Up thought. Not when considering moments in which everything is peaceful, and it's just the two of you, no distractions or catches, anyway. And, it seemed, the last of such moments they might get, seeing as the rest of the crew were coming back in a week, and shortly afterwards they were off to Farm Planet to crush the invasion.

Up wanted to take advantage of this moment somehow. The G.L.E.E. Headquarters was so quiet right now, so empty, most of the other rangers on leave or preparing to fly out to Farm Planet, and it was a nicer private place than staying cooped up in the three tiny rooms that made up Up's quarters. He glanced across at Taz. She was pretending to ignore him, as she often did when she suspected others might be nearby, idly sharpening her knife against the corner of the stone bench and shaving off several inches of sandstone in the process. Up considered for a little while.

He'd been considering this for a fairly long time- whether or not to man up, take the plunge, tell her he loved her. He'd been so tempted to so many times, and always backed down, telling himself he _was_ tough enough, it just wasn't the right time yet. On planet leave, when she'd stood on the balcony looking so peaceful and happy, he'd instead chosen to photograph her and had his phone thrown out to sea as a result. Just before he'd gone into the reconstruction he'd turned, intending to say it, but as he'd opened his mouth a torrent of thoughts had hit him, tormenting him with the idea that it would be worse for her if she knew and then he died, and so instead he'd grabbed her and kissed her one last time.

Now, just him and her again, no hindrances, no nothing, it should have been easy. Up had taken down a Bird of Prey with his bare hands, he'd killed giant mosquitos with nothing but a heartbeat, but saying a couple of words to Taz was so much more difficult- and frightening. Up allowed his thoughts to argue with each other. _You don't even know her name…she'll probably kill you…no, she cares, she's proven that…you've only been dating (is that even what this is? Can I actually call it that?) for three months or roundabouts…yeah, but you've known her for eight years…_

This was getting him nowhere. Either he did this or he didn't. The only question it all really boiled down to was-_did_ he love Taz? He stole another glance at her. She was still sharpening away, a pile of dust gathering on the floor above what used to be the corner of the bench, her mouth curled in that way it tended to when she was concentrating. _Yes._ There was no question of that.

Up swallowed the mucus that had been gathering in his throat and squared his shoulders a little bit.

'Did I ever tell you I love you?' he said it casually, as though it were just something one would happen to bring up in an ordinary conversation, his heart thumping as wildly as if an autobot had just jumped out at him from around a corner.

Taz's knife abruptly stopped scraping. 'No,' she said, cautiously, it sounded, 'jou never told me dat.'

Her lack of reaction left him more than slightly terrified and he wondered how to proceed. Taz's silence meant she was revving up to either horrific rage or extreme happiness, only he could never be sure which one.

'Um, well, yeah,' he stuttered. 'I do.'

Taz's head slowly turned to face him, her face impassive and serious, her eyes a flurry of different feelings, none of which he could make out.

'_ídem,' _she said after a decent-sized pause. He blinked, the unfamiliar Spanish word causing his heart to miss a beat and jump painfully. It was short and flat and sounded awfully like a rejection and Up was unable to think coherently.

The pain must have been evident on his face, because Taz's eyes widened in horror and she grabbed hold of his shoulders.

'No, Up, _que yo quería decir…te amo tambien…_' she was going at a million miles an hour and he couldn't keep up, '_maldito, en Inglés, Taz…_I love jou too!' She exhaled heavily, getting her breath back before repeating her last sentence at a normal speed.

'I love jou too.'

Up felt giddy. He raised his shaking arms to rest on top of Taz's, steadying himself as he tried to work out whether or not he was hallucinating.

'Guh…hnnn…' oh, great, he'd lost the ability to speak now. He swallowed again. 'You sure?'

Taz stared at him incredulously. 'De hell kinda question is dat?'

And then he was kissing her, not caring if anyone could see, not caring that Taz had to frantically drop her knife to prevent it going right through him as he pulled her as close as he could. It was a wonderful thing to know someone loved you, even if you'd figured they probably did anyway. Their kisses hadn't been intense since…that first one, when they'd finally admitted they had any sorts of feelings for each other at all. Taz's arms were around him now, his fingernails digging sharply into the back of his neck- but then again, what romantic moment with her _hadn't_ involved some form of violence?

Up pulled back only when he wanted air. Taz looked flushed, her eyes enormous. He allowed himself a second to take her in- her exact expression, the way her shoulders tensed when he let go of her.

'_Damn, _I love you,' he muttered. She smirked.

'Say dat again.'

'I love you,' he repeated softly, and her smile got bigger.

'Sounds good.'

Up moved his head down and pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. She made a little humming noise, and he grinned before planting another just under the first one, and a third and a fourth and more, all the way down her neck towards her collar, pushing the strap of her tank top off her shoulder and kissing the exposed skin.

'Up,' Taz suddenly growled, stiffening. He stopped, looking up at her, her tone of voice worrying him.

_Did I do something wrong?_

'I-'

'Ssh.' She held up one hand forcefully, her eyes suddenly angry. She pushed him aside and bent to retrieve her knife, and it was only when she held it at eye level and aimed it at something behind him in the vicinity that Up realised, to his relief, that her anger was not directed at him. With a flick of her wrist, the knife went sailing skilfully through the air, embedding itself in the trunk of a nearby tree and shuddering in its notch.

There was a yelp of fright, and then an '_okay,_ I'm sorry!'

A hand appeared from behind the tree, followed by an arm, and Up realised who it was before the rest of him followed, because _no-one _else in the whole Galactic League could get away with wearing a pale blue paisley shirt with his uniform.

'Oh, hey guys,' Lieutenant Criss said, his expression caught somewhere between guilt and mischievous glee. 'I was just, um…'

'I _know_ what jou were doin',' Taz said, a dangerous edge to her voice. '_Escúchame_, jou stupid leetle _bastardo,_ dis has got to stop.' She'd left the bench now, stalking up to Criss with the slow precision of a panther about to pounce. 'When jou start dating jour hairdryer none of us are gonna start making _patético_ bets and stalking jou every _momento_ of de day! Leave us alone, or I swear, I will kill jou!'

Criss swallowed, the lump visibly going down his throat. He backed away a few steps.

'Okay, I'm goin'…c-can I just ask one thing?' the curly-haired Lieutenant hadn't exactly been born with tact.

'W-h-_a_-t?**'** Taz's voice was lower than a human voice should be able to go.

'Were you guys gonna-'

'NO! We _weren't! GO AWAY!'_ The Hispanic girl didn't hesitate to get her fury across and after five seconds Criss was running towards the infirmary with a stab wound in his shoulder, his eye blackened and sobbing about what had happened to his 'beautiful face.'

Taz let out a sigh which sounded more like a hiss, and Up stepped forward, putting a hand on each of her shoulders to calm her down.

' 'S okay.'

Taz sighed again, a more human sound this time. 'I am going to kill him.'

'Do that later,' Up murmured, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and resting his head on top of hers.

He badly wanted to sit down, hold her in his lap and just enjoy her company again, this time minus the anxiety he'd felt over telling her he loved her, but the peaceful moment had rather lost its edge now, and so instead they turned and went back inside to watch 'the Karate Kid.'

* * *

><p>So they were going down to Farm Planet in a few days. They would be too late. They would have to pull back. That much was a given. The planet was too far gone. Another stage of his plan complete. And if he lost a few of them during their hopeless little battle, all the better. It was a brilliant thing, Space-Claw decided, to have risen your way through the ranks to become the head of the one army you intended to defeat. It meant you were above suspicion. It meant what you said was law, and if you ordered several deadly devices and had them delivered to you, nobody questioned what they were.<p>

He left all the League administration details to Holden. It was Holden who assigned ships to missions, Holden who covered most of the nitty-gritty details of extraterrestrial exploration. He himself had other fish to fry, and it was always just chalked up to 'experimenting.' Oh, how he loved being him.

_The universe will crumble before the might of Doctor Space-Claw,_ he'd always said, _and his son Junior._

He'd thought about Junior often over the past few weeks. He'd never really had much attachment to the lad, other than as another useful asset to his plans, but his thoughts fell to him all the same. If Junior had been here, he'd have been rushing out of his room with his shirt buttons all done wrong, overenthusiastic to help with a new harebrained scheme, even if he didn't fully understand what it was for, calling over his shoulder for his mother to stay out of his room. He'd never known of his father's allegiance with the robots.

He was too stupid, Space-Claw reasoned, to ever figure anything out, and would just blindly do whatever he was told in a bid for approval and a promotion- a rather useful character to have around.

He was the kind of model Space-Claw had used when searching for a new wife online- someone dumb enough not to realise what was going on under her nose, and that had led to his second marriage. His new bride, however, was perhaps a little _too_ ignorant- too ignorant to realise that some things were better not to be blurted out. Over the past few months, she'd nearly revealed his plans at dinner parties six times, and after that he'd had to stop taking her anywhere.

Since that night a few weeks ago, when he'd realised he'd need a planet to use as a base for his robots and their factories, he'd been up all night, every night, going through list after list of possible planets. It needed to be out of the way, but with a direct line to earth and all the other previously conquered planets. It needed to be either uninhabited or inhabited only by creatures that posed no real threat to robots. And it needed to be free of any climatic conditions that could endanger or damage the robots- lava especially.

He flicked through the touch screen of his computer with a stylus- the touch pad wasn't affected by his robot-hands, and scrolled down yet another list. Too dry, too rainy, inhabited by a rather intelligent colony of aliens…_aha._

It had only been recently explored, and the inhabitants were so trusting. They even let one of them come back to earth with the Starship Rangers. They weren't particularly violent, give or take one or two, and they all lived underground, leaving the surface of the planet available to build on. And the atmosphere contained copious amounts of oxygen, which would be to his advantage if he wanted to go down there himself.

Space-Claw circled the name with his stylus, and sat back in his chair, pleased with himself.

Bug World.

Bingo.

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><p><strong>This chapter was a lot more fluff than plot, and I apologise for that, it's just everything that was planned to be only one paragraph ended up becoming three pages' worth of writing and so on, so you'll have to wait til next chapter for more action. They're going to Farm Planet next time, promise...<strong>

**You're probably all annoyed with Criss by now, and honestly I don't know how he keeps sneaking into every chapter. He's so much fun to write though *guilty smile*. Also, I know Space-Claw seems to just pop up every once in a while to sit there and look evil, but there will be a lot more of him coming soon.**

**And so concludes my rambling.**


	16. A purple bag and a stack of hay

**Thanks again for all your reviews! Thanks also to DaydreamsofMyOwn for your great suggestion, I hope you like this chapter.**

**Also, you may have noticed in the course of things some of the chapters have gone missing. This was very necessary as I was not at all happy with them and have been meaning to fix them for some time. Now I am officially on summer vacation I intend to do so. They should be back sometime in January if all goes well. I just wanna tweak them up a little because some bits seemed a little...flat.**

**Anyway, I hope this chapter will tide you over.**

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><p>The four Starship Rangers who had gone on planet leave met up and took the same shuttle back to the G.L.E.E. Headquarters, unaware in making this 'convenient' arrangement that they would be squashed in with the several dozen huge shopping bags February was bringing home. It took them twenty minutes just to load up the pod, and Krayonder squirmed in the cramped space, trying to get the sharp corner of a paper carrier out of the small of his back.<p>

'Yeesh, man, what'd ya get down there?'

'Oh, just some new shoes, and these reeeally pretty dresses I needed- oh, and when me and Bug were in New York, we went past this cute jewellery store, and O-M-G you need to see what we got…'

Krayonder would have pointed out it was just a rhetorical question, had he known the word 'rhetorical'. February launched into a monologue of everything she'd bought, where it was from and the fifty reasons why it would look good on her, pulling out some of the more elaborate pieces with a flourish to show them off. Both he and Specs groaned simultaneously and shared a look. Krayonder rolled his eyes comically for her, and she smirked and looked away, causing the ranger to flush a little. It was no secret he had a…_thing…_for Specs- he didn't have a name for it. Lust, a little. But he liked her mind as well, he liked listening to her talk- she always sounded so smart, even when she was just saying hello. Over the past month or so he hadn't thought about it much, but then he hadn't done much other than stalk Commander Up and Lieutenant Taz with Criss and February. Most of his conversations at G.L.E.E. HQ consisted of 'five space-bucks says when this fight's over they'll do each other,' and 'ohmigoshKraydonderaren'ttheycute!' He'd quite forgotten his own problems until planet leave, when he'd realised, on vacation on his own and away from Specs that he'd taken her presence for granted.

He looked down quickly, trying not to catch her gaze again, before he started thinking about her, not to mention that great a-

'And these shoes, and _these_ shoes,' February produced two pairs of shoes that were virtually identical, except for the shape of the buckles, 'and this belt, and this belt, and this belt, and this belt…'

'You wear a uniform most of the time, man!' Krayonder cried. 'Why'd you want all these clothes? Why'd you need four belts that all look the same, except in different colours? What is the point, man?'

February stopped for a moment, staring up at him with confused eyes, and then giggled a little and went back to her shopping bags. 'And this dress, look, it'd be so great for if we ever have a dance…'

'Hey, I wonder how Up's doing,' Bug piped up. 'Hope he's recovering okay. I told all the bugs when February and I went down there…'

'You know, some of those bugs are like, really gross, but some of them are so cute, like, they've got these little antennas...'

'Yeah, well, they said they'd keep him in their thoughts…'

A silence descended over the four rangers as they considered what might happen- with Up, with Taz, with both of them.

'Oh, and did I show you guys the silk socks I got?' February broke the silence, and nothing more was said on the subject, Specs and Krayonder sinking into boredom and Bug into adoration as the schience officer continued to chatter away.

* * *

><p>It was fairly late in the evening when they got back, most of the rangers still at Headquarters either in bed or hanging out in one of the recreational facilities, and February made a beeline for her room to try on some of her new gear, Specs retreating just as quickly to the computer lab.<p>

'Hey, guys!' Criss sidled into view, 'how was your freedom? Get up to anything cool?'

Before the others could answer, he'd launched into an account of every uneventful little detail of every uneventful little thing that had gone one, which, if recorded, could have been released on the radio as 'Criss's wardrobe, the series.'

'What about Up and Taz?' Krayonder cut in when the tale of the Lieutenant's new mirror reached its boring climax.

Criss stopped mid-story. 'Oh, yeah. You want the good news or the bad news first?'

Krayonder swallowed. That always meant one thing- bad news, with some sort of pathetic cover story masquerading as good news to cover up the bad. As most people do, he asked for the good first.

'Good news is, Up got through his reconstruction fine, he's nearly finished recovering, and Taz has moved into his room to 'make sure he's okay'.' He made little quotation marks with his fingers.

'But that's great, man!' Krayonder did a little dance, then faltered. 'So what's… ?'

'Bad news is, we're two grand in the hole.'

The realisation dawned on Krayonder. 'Aw, _man!'_

Criss nodded.

Bug, who'd been watching the exchange quietly, now spoke up. 'I did tell you guys, Up and Taz go deeper than that. It's gonna take something more important than that- they don't even realise how much they love each other yet…'

'Woah, no dice,' Criss held up his hands. 'They have, actually, I saw 'em the other day sayin' it over and over. Your larvas or larvae or whatever they are are gone too.'

'Man, they'll have been married ten years and still not done anythin' the way they're goin'!' Krayonder whined.

'Yeah, well,' Criss flicked a curl out of his face, 'we shouldn't eat ourselves up thinkin' about it, guys. D'ya wanna hear about the guitar I just got?'

* * *

><p>The trip to Farm Planet didn't go well, not even from the beginning. They had to be ready to go at eleven hundred hours, in order to arrive at Farm Planet that evening, it was ten forty and Taz was throwing things about the room, furiously searching. Every drawer, wardrobe, cupboard, closet and all the boxes under Up's bed had been emptied, their contents dumped everywhere.<p>

'_Mierda!_ I can't find my damn bag!' Taz screeched for about the fifth time, and Up sighed, packing his own belongings. He couldn't say he regretted Taz becoming a permanent presence in here- secretly, though he wouldn't say it out loud for fear she'd think he was 'soft', he was thrilled- but it sure was hard to get your thoughts and possessions organised when your girlfriend was tearing your quarters to pieces.

'Go have a look in your room,' Up called from the bathroom, grabbing both of their toothbrushes and stuffing them in his bag, 'ya might've left it there- but hurry up, we gotta go any minute!'

It was going to be a dreadful mission. Both Starship 15A2 and 17G5 were leaving at the same time and all fifteen rangers (Megagirl wasn't to be coming, as after the recent incident with her inhibitor chip it had been decided not to risk a repeat in the presence of other robots) would have to transfer half way into one drop pod, so as not to be burdened with a very visible ship when approaching into enemy territory. They'd be setting up camp at a remote farm, several hundred miles away from the rest of the civilisation on the tiny planet, unaffected by robots as yet and housing several refugees G.L.E.E. spies and a couple of the other teams of starship rangers, and from there they would await General Holden's orders.

Tootsie had been talking non-stop for weeks about how excited he was- this farm happened to belong to his family, and they could all meet his ma and pa and cousins (the word 'cousins', they suspected, meaning 'stacks of hay'), but none of the others had looked forward to the task with quite as much gusto. Bug had been given a ten-minute lesson on how to use a zapper, February tagging along as she was still sketchy on most of the details and still thought it was a hairdryer, Specs had had most of her conspicuous technology confiscated for the trip to ensure the robots didn't pick any of it up on their radars, and the schience officer had been shouted at and threatened by Taz until she'd stopped trying to wheedle for more than one backpack's worth of clothes.

A knock came at the door. 'Heyyy, you cute couple, you!' Speak of the devil. Up suppressed a groan as he pressed the door release and allowed February entrance. She skipped in, far too chirpy for someone about to go out and fight, her hair and makeup all pristine and glossy. 'You guys ready?'

'Just about, ranger,' Up shifted his bag onto his back. A loud crash sounded from behind the bed, followed by a furious shout of 'NO!'

February leaned around Up, trying to locate Taz. 'Is she okay?'

'She can't find her bag,' the Commander explained, shooting her an apologetic smile as his Lieutenant let loose a string of English and Spanish swear words and hurled Up's -_brand new_, he thought, just in time to see it smash- alarm clock at the door.

The schience officer's face lit up. 'Don't worry- I got one you can borrow! It's roomy, and real pretty, too, it's my favourite apart from the one I'm taking for myself. I'll just go get it!'

She was off before either of them could protest, or before a training shoe flew at the spot where she'd just been standing. Taz emerged from underneath the bed, her hair and clothes dusty and in disarray and her face furious. 'I wanna use my own damn bag!' she snapped at Up, who put one hand on her shoulder to restrain her.

'She ain't gonna be long, and I toldja you shoulda packed last night,' he sighed, remembering the argument that had arisen the previous evening when he'd paused the movie they'd been watching to suggest this. He now carried a very nasty-looking bruise on his shin. 'You got the rest of ya stuff there?'

Taz nodded gruffly, dumping an armful of belongings all over his bed. Up chuckled, moving to sit beside her and put his arm round her shoulders. 'We can't have ya in this kinda mood when we got a big job ter do- you okay?'

'_Robotas est__ú__pido,_' Taz murmured, turning her face away from him. 'I thought we'd finished wid dem.' Up tightened his grip around her shoulders, and she turned again to look him straight in the eye. 'Was it for nothing? De robot wars, jour injur-' she couldn't finish, she shuddered and swallowed and waited for a moment. 'Dese robots are like _las verrugas_- dey just keep comin' back.'

Up had to suppress a shudder himself as she mentioned his injury, but he calmed himself and rubbed her back, the circular movement of his reconstructed right hand reminding him that it had been okay in the end. 'Hey, esc-esca…' he paused, trying to remember how to say that word.

Taz snuffled. '_Es__úchame?'_

'Yeah.'

She laughed in spite of herself, and mumbled something about his inability to speak Spanish.

'Listen, Taz, we took 'em down once, we can take 'em again. We just gotta get back up, remember?'

'Dat's what _I_ tell _jou.'_

'I said it to you first!' Up protested with a smile, 'I started the trend, you just took over for me when I was indisposed.'

Taz gave a mock-growl and shoved him against the bed. Up grinned, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her onto his lap, and she kicked at him, making a lunge for freedom.

'Where'dja think you're goin'?' he teased, holding her even tighter and ignoring her cries of '_let me go!'_

'You stay there,' he murmured, turning and pinning her against the headboard and leaning in to kiss her. Taz let out a little involuntary laugh and rolled her eyes. Up's face lit up to see her cheered somewhat, and kissed her again.

'Better now?'

Taz exhaled. 'Meh.'

'Aww, you guys!' Up and Taz jumped apart as February returned, a huge grin on her face as she took them in, and the promised bag in her hands. 'Well, here you go, I've got to be going, Buggy said he wants to talk to me…' and she flounced off as Taz's jaw dropped in protest.

The bag was a pale lavender colour. And sparkly.

Taz stared at it in what could only be described as disgust, and flicked it away from her as though it were a snotty tissue. 'I am not using dat.'

'C'mon, Taz, we gotta go…'

'Dere is _no way_ I am putting dat _ridiculo_ thing on my back- in my life, I've done some t'ings I said I'd never do, but _one thing_ I said I'd _never_-'

In the midst of her rant, Up had neatly tucked her things into the bag, and now he sat, holding it out to her. 'There ain't time ter change it now, hon…'

'Don't jou 'hon' me, _idiota!'_ she snatched the backpack from his hands, landing a smack on his upper arm. She made a face at the rucksack, grumbling unintelligibly as she slung it onto her back and made for the door.

'You got the map to the base?'

Taz snatched it up and stomped into the passageway, scrunching it up in her hand. Up smiled and shook his head as he followed her.

* * *

><p>When they all met up, docked their ships together and squashed into the miniscule drop pod, Criss and Krayonder took one look at Taz and roared with laughter, clutching at each other to prevent themselves from falling down.<p>

Taz looked from one to the other and fumed. 'And _what_ do jou two think is so _gracioso, _ay?'

'Purple backpack…and that map…' Krayonder spluttered.

'She looks like…' Criss added, and then clutched his stomach.

'She…'

'She looks like Dora the Explorer!' and they both lost it again.

The anger exploded across Taz's face and she leapt at the two obnoxious rangers- a difficult feat inside a very small pod, which sent nearly everyone toppling like dominos- landing punches hither and thither. 'I'll 'Dora de Explorer' jou!'

'Taz!' Up called.

'Lieutenant! Unhand my Lieutenant!' Crawford had never really had a way with words. Up had to prise the Hispanic girl off the rangers, and held her to him, her arms in his hands as she struggled widly. 'No more Dora the Explorer jokes, _anyone_, and that's an order!'

Criss and Krayonder forced the cheeky smirks off their faces with great difficulty.

'He's just in a bad mood 'cause they still haven't screwed,' Criss murmured, a little too loudly, and Taz had to be restrained again before her knife could slash the other Lieutenant's ear off.

* * *

><p>The walk from where they hid the drop pod to their new base was gruelling, and by the time they arrived, exhausted and thirsty, knees aching from constantly ducking down into a crouch for fear that a robot had picked up their approach on the radar (the soldiers already here had promised to set off a diversion so they could land without being noticed, but none of the rangers were taking any chances). Only Tootsie Megagirl remained cheerful, constantly jumping about calling out 'you guys are gonna meet mah cousins!' and being fiercely <em>shh<em>-ed by everyone else.

The back door of the barn creaked open and they all fell inside. Several bales of hay had been arranged around the open space and a small fire burned in the centre, the thin trail of smoke carefully diverted up through a small hole in the roof and thinned into nothing with a specially-crafted device. In each corner, several technology experts of the G.L.E.E had set up signal stations and were listening for signs of robots and typing in various messages to Headquarters.

Around the barn were clustered various groups of starship rangers and farm planet citizens alike, the former readying and polishing their weapons, the latter singing yokel-like songs. Tootsie located his relatives and the whole lot of them hollered and hugged and wailed over the events taking place.

The rangers were fawned and fussed over, and introduced to hicks with ridiculous names- even Specs couldn't suppress a snort when Fishing Ice-cream, Tootsie's brother (whom he referred to as his sister) was brought over to meet the gang. Up glanced across at Taz, who had her hands over her mouth, her eyes almost shut. Anyone who didn't know the Lieutenant well might have believed she was yawning, as was her intention, but Up had known her for eight years. He may not know her real name, but he knew every little of habit of hers, and when she covered her mouth like that, she was trying to pretend she wasn't smirking. He shot her a wink.

'And you know this thingamajiggy here?' Tootsie was saying to Fishing, waving his zapper around, 'this here's called a _gun._'

Fishing looked impressed.

Taz rolled her eyes. This whole place was just stupid. She dumped the infernal backpack on the ground, slumping down onto one of the hay bales and putting her feet up on another. All at once about ten farmers rounded on her.

'Hey! You're sittin' on Francine!' Tootsie cried. Taz got to her feet, looking around for the unfortunate person she had apparently sat on. There was no-one there.

In a flash, Tootsie had grabbed the bale of hay and scooped it up into his arms, holding it away from the Hispanic girl. 'Poor Francine ain't done nothin' to you!'

Now Taz realised why none of the hay bales had occupants. 'It's a _maltido_ bundle of straw! It has no feelings, jou moron!'

'That's my lil cousin!' Fishing exclaimed. 'She here's the brother of the stack o' hay our Tootsie used to go with…' they all fell silent, and Taz had the feeling had the conversation continued, the word 'horse' would have struck fear throughout the surviving farmers.

'Apologise to Francine!' Tootsie said, his eyes narrowing. Taz felt her temper rising.

'Jou listen to me, _cabron_, dis may be jour _muy estupido_ planet we've landed on, but I am still jour Lieutenant, and if jou t'ink jou can talk to me like dat…'

'Ah, Taz,' Crawford had appeared from behind her. 'While we're down here, seeing as these people have lost almost everything, and as they're generously letting us use their last safe resort as a base until we can attack these robots, Holden's ordered us to _keep the peace.'_

'Fine,' Taz grumbled, extending a hand and awkwardly patting the stack of hay. '_Lo siento, amigo.'_

From behind her came several snickers.

* * *

><p>They'd eaten an unsatisfying portion of the supplies they'd brought down, sat around the fire for a while- everyone who accidentally parked on one of the hay bales being booed by the farmers- discussing strategies and finalising details for tomorrow, and half-listening to various stories the farmers told about Tootsie. It became clear very quickly that Tootsie Megagirl was the brains of his family. Taz hadn't thought it possible for someone to be even more idiotic than Tootsie, but here was the proof- a whole <em>familia<em> full of dumb hicks. If she had to hear the 'once we found these 'taters where we planted some' story one more time she was going to kill something, and she almost melted with relief when Up stood up to put out the fire.

'Okay, boys and girls, time to turn in. We gotta be up at 0500 hours tomorrow, to get into position fer six.' There were a number of groans, the rangers reluctant to leave the warmth. Everyone crawled over to the back of the barn, twisting on the floor and trying to find comfortable positions. The previously stationed rangers woke each other up and swapped watch shifts.

'When they said we were gunna stay the night here, I thought they meant, like, in a hotel or _something_,' February whined, thrashing and picking little bits out of her blonde bob. 'Ew, I'm getting straw in my hair!'

'Tell me about it,' murmured Criss from a few feet away.

Taz lay on her side, her hand under her head. To her left, Up was on his back, hands behind his head. It was dark now, bar the flickering red and green lights of the watchers' communications devices, and Taz was sure no-one could look over and catch her. She shuffled closer to him, and in the faint light, she saw him turn to the side and smile at her.

'Hey there,' he murmured, so softly only she could hear.

'Jou're on de wrong side of me,' she whispered. 'It don't feel right.'

'Creature of habit, you are,' he laughed, reaching to drape his arm over her waist. 'Ah well. 'Bout time we tried somethin' different.' He moved closer, tucking her under his arm and against his side. 'Try ter get some sleep, Taz.'

'Stop breathing down my neck, then, _idiota,_' she muttered.

'Sorry,' he gently twisted his fingers around a strand of her hair and kissed the top of her head. Taz lay there for a long time, listening as one by one the whispers around her dropped off, as Up relaxed behind her, his breath against the back of her neck heavier. She was tired, every bone in her body turned to cotton wool, but her eyes just wouldn't shut. She wasn't scared, no, she wasn't even nervous. She'd fought robots a hundred times, probably more. She knew what she was doing, so why couldn't she sleep? It was like a…premonition, she thought, whatever this feeling was. It was as if her sleeplessness was in anticipation, a foreshadowing of something.

No, she was just being stupid. She was lying on the uncomfortable floor, and she was used to being on the other side of Up, and the communication devices kept beeping. That was all it was. She hoped.

She shifted so her back was pressed against Up's chest, and settled down under his arm, counting the _blip_ of each transistor and watching their lights flash until her eyes couldn't stay open any more.


	17. Scarecrows

**Greetings! I hope this chapter finds you well. Isn't it lovely weather we're having here? Well, actually it's not, it's horrible and pouring with rain, but I am trying to have a nice conversation here.**

**Anywho, this chapter is a little different. The bits written in _italics _indicate a flashback- there are just a couple of these in this chapter to explain a few things, like why Taz doesn't have a name, etc. I hope they don't annoy you too much.**

* * *

><p><em>The little girl lay in a crumpled heap on the ground, still in shock, the rope that had had her swinging from the tree still looped loosely around her ankle. It must have been pretty traumatising to nearly get sliced open by robots, Up reflected, but he couldn't stop to think about that now. The scans indicated there were still about a hundred robots somewhere in the vicinity.<em>

_He leaned over cautiously, reaching out and poking the girl lightly in the arm. 'Hey. Kid.'_

_The girl's eyes opened slowly; crossing a little as she focused on the ranger above her;_

'_You okay?'_

'_AIEE!' The shriek could have woken the dead. Suddenly alert, she leapt to her feet in an almost catlike movement. She stood defensively a few feet away, a mixture of anger and fright flashing in her face._

'_Stay away from me!'_

_The kid looked wild to Up; she bounced on the balls of her feet with the agility and ferocity of someone about to lash out at any given second._

'_Look, kid, this isn't the time…' Up was getting concerned. Robots two miles away and counting…_

_He took another step towards her and tentatively offered her his hand._

'_I said _get away!'_ Before he could blink she lunged, attacking him with all she had. She was a tiny thing, but she still managed to inflict several minor injuries on him before he could stop her._

'_Hey! Cut it out, I'm tryin' ter help y-'_

_A sharp slash of pain suddenly sliced his face._ Damn kid's trying to gouge my eyes out now! _Up tried to keep calm- he was far too good at losing his temper, and that, he reflected, wouldn't be such a good idea- she was already frightened enough._

_A breeze stung the newly formed gash down his face, blood trickling all down his eyelid and drizzling towards his chin. He could barely keep his eye open, the blood causing his lashes to cling together. He half-squinted at the girl, still on the defensive, holding her high-heeled shoe like a weapon. She stood lopsided now, one foot balancing on a stiletto and the other bare, and she paused, balancing the shoe in her palm before lunging again._

_Up was ready for her this time. In a swift motion he grabbed her wrist, wresting the shoe from her grasp before she could inflict any more damage and holding it out of her reach._

'_Will you _knock it off? _I saved your life back there, kiddo!'_

_She froze momentarily, and Up could see her terror as she took him in, eyes now locked on the gash she'd made across his eye; on the blood. Almost instinctively she reached one hand up._

'_Jou…jou're not a robot…' her tone was incredulous, she slurred her words together in some form of Spanish or Hispanic accent, rolling her 'r's on the word 'robot'._

'_Well, I should damn well hope not! Now are ya comin' with me or not? I don't wanna hang around here all day…' Robots a mile and a half and counting…_

_She hesitated. The fear drained from her face, replaced with a fierce defiance as she considered. No sign of any apology- no sign even that she was at all remorseful about wounding Up- in fact, the ranger considered as he watched her expression changed, there was almost a hint of pride at what she'd just done._

_He offered her his hand again and she glared- he may not have been a robot but she still wasn't taking any chances. _

'_Look, I'm no kinda threat to you. I'll get you out of here, but you gotta stop tryin'a rip me to shreds, okay?'_

'Cualquiera que sea_,' she muttered, resigned. She took two steps, swayed and collapsed._

* * *

><p>Up awoke a little before the alarm was due to go off, his head full of thoughts- about the upcoming battle, about Taz. Almost inadvertently he reached his hand up, lightly fingering the scar across his eye. The first thing she had ever given him, he thought with a little laugh. The first thing he had ever given her- apart from saving her life, that was- was the name <em>Taz<em>. He glanced down at her in the faint pre-dawn light, frowning slightly as she slept, her fingers twitching around the hilt of her knife every so often, and all he wanted all of a sudden was to be back in his room in his own bed, with Taz safely tucked beside him. _Damnit…I ain't goin' soft again, am I?_ No, Up could see the faces of the robots in his mind and the thought of any of them touching Taz made him want to gun down every last scrap of metal on the planet. He chuckled a little. _Killin' with my heart…_

He let his thoughts drift again as he watched Taz stir in her sleep and felt her elbow in his chest as she shifted into a more comfortable position. It would be the first actual, proper battle he'd have fought in since the standoff against Pincer and the mosquitos on Bug World (unless you counted the two hour mission looking for robots those few months ago, and he didn't really count that, having not found anything and having gotten himself stuck on the other side of a collapsed bridge)- the first time in a fair while during which he would have to prove he still was one tough son of a bitch. And he was damn well going to make sure he acted like one. _Anything for Taz._

There was no point in going back to sleep and snatching a few more seconds' worth of rest before the day's activities began- Up couldn't see his watch in this light but from observing the night watchers, who were beginning to pack up this and set up that, it wouldn't be long now before they were up and off.

And before that happened, Up wanted just a few seconds with Taz- even just time enough to say 'I love you' one more time before they went out to battle- and before the nosier of the other rangers woke up to see it.

Up leaned over her, carefully putting his arms down on either side of her, and gently kissed her awake.

'Mmf,' Taz screwed up her eyes, '_Madre, yo que no quiere levantarse…_' she tried to turn her head away and he reached down and kissed her again.

'Taz…'

Taz sat up at the sound of his voice and glared. 'What?' She glanced around momentarily, and then her eyes caught the bales of hay and it all came back to her.

'Ssh.' Up took a look round the room to ensure they hadn't woken anyone before enfolding her in his arms and administering a third kiss. 'Don't want the other rangers to see this now, do we?'

Taz reached her head up to reciprocate and then scoffed. 'Dere are more important t'ings in life, Up…' She narrowed her eyes at him, but seeing the strange expression on his face, relented and moved closer to him to press her lips to his just one more time.

'Yeesh, guys!' A third hushed voice broke their concentration on each other, and Up and Taz both turned to see Lieutenant Criss sitting up, legs crossed, head cocked to one side as though watching something very entertaining. 'Makeout sessions every time we turn around- why don't you just do each other and get it over with?'

'Why don't jou just walk into my knife and get jour death over with?' Taz growled, slipping out from Up's arms and crawling towards him with a furious look in her eye.

'Hey, hey, hey,' Up took hold of her arm. 'C'mon.' He got to his feet, leading her quietly towards the back door.

The sun was just beginning to poke over the horizon as they stepped outside, a breeze ruffling the long grass and cornfields all around them, and, despite it being the birthplace of cretinous farmers like Tootsie, Up could see the appeal of Farm Planet. Open air, vast expanses of nothing but grass, it was very tranquil. Shame the robots were slowly marching and burning their way across it, and that soon they would have to be marching and burning their way to meet them. It'd be the first major battle they'd been in for months.

This would be the part when Up would tell Taz something profound, but 'I like you' had been done, 'I love you' had been done and 'marry me' seemed far, far too soon. So Up said nothing, simply leading her round the side of the barn, pushing her gently up against the wall and kissing her again. Up's watch told him there were only five minutes til five now, and he was going to make use of each and every one of the three hundred seconds.

'Up,' Taz pulled away, and the Commander noticed the same faraway expression in her eyes as the day after their first kiss. Was she planning to say something to _him_?

* * *

><p><em>She didn't care that the Commander's room was in ruins. She'd spent twenty minutes charging through it, smashing everything in sight in sheer despair and anger. She wanted to kill him. She wanted to kill everything, living or inanimate.<em>

_And the worst part was, for some reason he seemed to think it was funny. He made corny references to Warner Brothers and called her Taz and Tazzy, and this just made the red in front of her eyes even brighter. She'd hit and kicked him every time he had, and then screamed some more. She didn't fall asleep so much as lose consciousness, and awoke to him poking her in the arm._

'_Tazzy…' _

'_Get off me, jou _hijo de puta!_' she shrieked, and he immediately grabbed her arms in fear of round two of her destructive fury. _

'_Calm down, kid. I got a heap o' incident reports the G.L.E.E need me ter fill in- and if you could help me out I'd appreciate it…'_

_She sat with her arms folded, answering very little and even less in English. There were mountains of arrangements to be made regarding her welfare, but no matter how many times Up tried for her name, she remained silent._

_He resorted to more desperate measures. 'You don't want me to put 'Taz' on this form, do ya now?'_

_She said nothing._

'_C'mon,' he teased, 'you have ten seconds to tell me your name or I'm puttin' 'Taz' down…'_

_Still nothing._

_He pleaded with her, teased her, shouted at her and went back to playful banter when he frightened her with his anger, but she was immovable. _

'_Last chance, Tazzy,' he said, about seven 'last chances' later. Still nothing. And so his empty threat became a reality and the nameless girl became 'Taz'._

* * *

><p>Taz stood waist-deep in the long grass, her eyes fixed on Up. Her mouth seemed dry and she wondered if this was how Up had felt when he first made his move. He'd certainly spent his time dithering beforehand.<p>

'Up,' she said at length and then paused. They were a mere few feet from the barn door, and if any of the other rangers were awake- well, she wanted this secret to be for Up's ear alone.

'Yeah, Taz?' He took a step closer.

'Come here,' she growled, fisting his shirt and dragging him around the corner to the other wall. 'I don' want dose _idiotas_ to hear dis.'

He walked alongside her obligingly, pushing through the grass towards the far side. The first rays of sunlight, orange and bright, started to hit them in the face and the pair squinted through the glare.

'What is it, Taz?' Up's voice couldn't contain his curiosity. 'You're not ending this, are ya?'

'_Idiota estupido_!' She punched him in the arm. 'I would never! Jou can't get rid of me!' Up exhaled with immense relief. 'Well, what was it, Taz?'

Taz opened her mouth and then elbowed him. It seemed like someone had already taken their private place.

Up's jaw dropped as he beheld Krayonder and Specs, the bespectacled ranger's glasses askew and her companion's arms around her, their mouths locked. Taz attempted to cover Up's eyes but she couldn't quite reach.

'Yeesh. And that candy-ass has the nerve ter spread rumours 'bout us…' Up murmured. Taz rolled her eyes. 'Never mind,' she dragged him back around, only to find a space was now occupied by Bug and February. It looked like all the couples had come out here for their own private little farewells before battle.

'Oh, forget it!' Taz snapped, a little louder than she intended. The bug and the schience officer jumped apart for a moment, only to see the back of Taz as she stomped back into the barn.

They were all already up and about when Up and Taz returned, communications officers barking messages from Holden to clusters of rangers and farmers alike. Crawford was trying to look like he knew what he was doing, tipping his hat as though that made him look more authoritative and instead looking comical.

'Bug!' Specs called from over at the transmitter, 'urgent message for you.'

The gangly insect, pincers a funny colour from February's lipstick, trotted over to her as Up took his place beside the other Commanders, ready to convey instructions.

'The main battalion of robots is stationed in North Scarecrow-Town,' Crawford said, 'we need a group of rangers to drive them into the centre of the town and keep them there. The rest of you will attack from underground- the farmers once built tunnels, so I'm told, to protect them from the weather and these will be easily accessible…'

'De hell kinda name is 'North Scarecrow Town'?' Taz interrupted, instantly regretting it as an enthusiastic smile split across Tootsie's face.

'Why, North Scarecrow-Town's where all they scarecrows are born!' he began. 'See, where I come from- Farm Planet- here- the scarecrows all come from a mag-ick-al…'

'Sorry I asked!' Taz growled. Her mood had been drastically dampened by her missed opportunity this morning and the thought of facing yet another batch of robots did nothing to improve it- especially if it involved sneaking around underground. She listened with her arms folded, slumped forward and tapping her foot as Holden's voice crackled through the system and Crawford repeated the instructions in a more obnoxious voice.

It sounded simple enough- get in, kill the robots' main landing base and then there'd just be a few small groups scattered around to take down one by one. She didn't know why she'd been so concerned last night- they'd taken down stronger armies than the one they were facing today, but something kept tugging at her heartstring- the thought that something wasn't quite right- the thought that this wasn't going to be as straightforward as it seemed.

That was why she'd planned to tell Up this morning- tell him her name. Give him something to take with him, just in case…

_First de reconstruction, then dis…mierda, I really am going soft! Getting all choked up every time we do something even slightly _peligroso _these days…I gotta stop dis…_

The two parts of her battled it out, the rough-and-tough, kill-you-as-soon-as-look-at-you Taz and the one who cared so deeply for her Commander, and the war in her brain almost erupted from her mouth when a strange cry broke through both her thoughts and Crawford's announcements.

Bug's antennas were stuck up the way a cat's fur stands on end in fear, his compound eyes glowing with some strange emotion. All eyes were on him, all murmurs ceasing for a brief moment as the group took in the strange expression.

'I gotta go back to Bug World,' Bug began, his voice all over the place and not his own, 'it's an emergency…'

'Jou _loco, cucaracha?_' Taz burst. 'Jou can't just leave now 'cause some _mariposa_ got deir wings stuck!'

'Now, now, Taz,' Up said gently, 'what is it, ranger?'

'I don't know,' Bug's voice was so fast and shrill it sounded more like an insect's buzz than English, and they could only barely make out the words, 'the Overqueen was frightened- there were mentions of…death and huge silver creatures…'

'Robots,' Up and Taz breathed as one. Up stood up straighter, fixing Bug with his most determined look. 'Go, ranger, if you need to. Get back to Earth and notify Holden. We'll need to send rangers down there immediately- and good luck.' He patted the insect on the shoulder and turned to the others.

'Requesting a drop pod to leave immediately- we've got a crisis down on Bug World.'

Taz felt a shudder rush through her. It was getting worse every time she turned around. It was like the robot wars all over again. The very thought made her want to be sick.

* * *

><p>'I don' know how I got stuck underground wid <em>jou<em>,' Taz growled, her back aching from walking doubled-over for several miles, zapper at eye-level.

'Well, when the General assigned the groups…' Criss began.

'_Callar!_' Taz snapped, her voice echoing throughout the tunnel. 'Jou want dose robots somewhere above us to hear? We can't blow our cover til de others got dem where we want dem. Now come on.' She inched forward a few more paces into the cavernous, seemingly neverending tunnel, the group of about ten rangers behind her following her like sheep. Despite being small, she'd never been one for enclosed spaces. She liked the world to be big around her, vast and encompassing, not looking like it was about to crush her, and her disappointment- _no, not disappointment, rage- _at being chosen to lead the tunnel-team as opposed to the above-ground team had been immense. This was not turning out to be her day.

'Hey, Taz, do you think these ceilings are gunna get any higher?' came Criss's voice in her ear. 'If I bump my head too much, my beautiful brain might get damaged…'

'And the _diminuto_ bit jou _do_ use might go as well,' Taz rolled her eyes. 'Or we might get lucky- and de part of jou dat cares about jour hair might get wiped out.'

'Yeesh, are you okay, Taz? You sound kinda…_pissed off, _even for you.'

'¿_Quién, yo?_ No, I'm just _gran_, we have to face hundreds of robots for- oh, only de hundredth time, I'm stuck in dis death hole wid a Lieutenant who t'inks a zapper is an accessory, while Up's up dere nearly getting killed _again, _and every time I try to get a moment alone wid him I get interrupted by jou _idiotas _so I _still haven't told him my-'_

Taz's rapid crescendo of a rant stopped mid-sentence as clanking footsteps sounded from above her.

'Shut up, _idiotas,'_ she snapped to the handful of rangers who were saying nothing at all, urging them forward with a furiously frantic gesture. They continued to shuffle forward in silence.

* * *

><p>North Scarecrow-Town, as the people of Farm Planet called it, looked pretty deserted to Up, apart from a whole bunch of destroyed houses and about fifty thousand scarecrows swaying in the wind. It looked eerie, and Up was reminded for a moment of an old twenty-first century sci-fi program he'd seen once, where the scarecrows all came to life. He suddenly felt a great longing <em>not<em> to go near them.

_Don't be stupid,_ he told himself. _It's robots we need to beware of, not these guys._

He turned to face his platoon. 'This is it, people. Those tin cans are hidin' somewhere in the vicinity. Chances are they've figured we're comin', so approach every building with caution.' A part of him wanted to smile- he'd just said 'tin cans'. Taz was rubbing off on him.

His team of five, among whom were Krayonder and February, all gave him salutes and loaded their zappers.

'Um, excuse me? Up?' February whispered. 'This gun- the trigger-thingymajig is just like the switch on a hairdryer, right? Well, that's what Taz told me.'

'Yeah, somethin' like that,' Up said. 'Ya should be okay.'

'So, um, which is the blow dry setting and which is normal?'

Up blinked. 'Um, just set the switch to 'pew' and it'll all be smooth-sailin' for ya.' The schience offer made to oblige, flicking her hair away from her face and examining the zapper again.

Up flipped open his phone (a new one, issued to him with much resentment by Holden after Taz had thrown his old one off a balcony), re-opening the connection with Crawford, who'd made his way around to the other side of the town.

'Okay, we approach in two.'

'Got ya,' Crawford's voice fizzed through the line. 'We're heading in now. Two minutes.'

'Hey, dudes, look at me!' Krayonder's voice was far too loud, far too overbearing for a mission which required discretion. Up spun around to reprimand him to find the ranger hanging off one of the scarecrows' arms, hollering and waving like a schoolkid in a goofy holiday picture. 'Look, man! This is the guy!' He thumped the scarecrow on the shoulder, removing his hat and holding it over the burlap head. 'This dude is awesome!'

'Krayonder!' Up shouted, momentarily forgetting his orders to stay quiet. 'We're not here to goof around with the scarecrows- we got a job to do. You're a starship ranger, dammit, now stop acting like a five-year-old!'

'Sorry, Commander.' Krayonder replaced his cap and moved to let go of the scarecrow. All of a sudden a metal arm shot out from inside it, grabbing him round the throat. Gasps and screams escaped every one of the rangers as the scarecrow's exterior exploded in a burst of shredded straw and flannel to reveal the robot concealed inside.

That one action was all that was needed for the others to spring to life and soon the air was filled with the torn remains of the scarecrows as a whole army of robots materialised before the rangers' eyes. All their pre-prepared strategies went down the drain.

* * *

><p>Taz crouched in the opening of the tunnel. Cleverly angled, it allowed a decent view of the centre of North Scarecrow-Town. Her team squatted behind her, all trying to keep their balance on the slope as they awaited Up's instructions. Taz's phone remained silent. She held it to her ear, wondering if she'd missed the signal, but no sound emitted from the device at all- not one single buzz.<p>

'Aren't they ready _yet_?' Criss asked for the eighth time.

'_No sé_,' Taz hissed. She had to admit she was becoming very concerned. Had something gone wrong?

As if to answer her question a shout of fear rang through the air above her.

'Scrap de plan,' Taz shouted, 'get jour zappers ready- we're going, now!'

* * *

><p>It was horrendous. Minus a plan, minus the element of surprise (the robots had won on that one) the rangers were gunning robots down on sight, shooting like maniacs. Surprisingly even February was still on her feet, hitting metal man after metal man with 'hairdryer beams.' Crawford and his men had sprinted to join the fight, only to be battling out of breath. It was some kind of <em>miracle<em> nobody had been killed yet.

Up was doing well. Ten shots in a neat little line and a whole row of them, who'd been trying to start some sort of formation, had fallen. Yep, he wasn't soft- no way.

Taz would be proud of him, he thought as another one fell, if she was here. He wondered what had happened to her team. Were they still waiting down in the tunnels? What if the robots had gotten them?

He forced the thoughts out of his mind, instead focusing on the fight and encouraging himself with the thought that when this was over he could get back to Taz- and she could tell him that deep and meaningful thing she'd been revving up to this morning.

'Puny hu-man, pray for your life and prepare to die,' came a metallic and somewhat…_familiar…_voice, and the Commander swung around in one swift movement to face the robot. It stood there, hands raised and gun barrels protruding from them, ready to fire.

Up raised his zapper and took aim. A nice, clean shot, right through the robot's chest should be easy enough. He squared his shoulders, set his jaw and focused.

What he saw on closer inspection stopped him dead in his tracks. It was Megagirl.

Not the Megagirl that worked for him, no, this unit was silver and gleaming, no sign of any earned emotion on her face- but it was the same face, no doubt sculpted from the same mould and issued to every single Megagirl unit in existence. The same face that he saw almost every day, that he had learned to call a friend. The same face that chirped at him, told ridiculous human-jokes, that smiled at Tootsie and smirked at Taz in mockery.

The world seemed to slow down, ten seconds taking ten minutes to occur. Within these frozen ten seconds he told himself it wasn't her- it was not the same Megagirl he knew and treated as a friend, it was not in any way a person or emotional being, just a soulless copy. Their Megagirl had developed a soul- this one had not. His right hand hesitated at the trigger. _Just do it! Shoot de tin can!_ came Taz's voice, but he couldn't tell if he were imagining, hallucinating or actually hearing it.

His hand would not move. It had no feeling- and whether this was a delayed side effect from the second reconstruction or some psychological reaction from the shock of seeing Megagirl's face he didn't know. But he couldn't do it.

He couldn't shoot that robot.

A loud PEW! shattered the air around him, the laser beam sailing past his ear from behind him hitting home, hitting the non-Megagirl right between the eyes, exploding its head with a smash and a shower of little bits of metal. The robot toppled over, still shooting from its hands (the only way to fully decommission a Megagirl unit, everyone knew, was to lower it into lava- but without its head it was unable to walk about or aim and was therefore considerably less of a threat).

Up turned, still in shock to see Taz standing three feet away, the end of her zapper still smoking, her face frozen in horror as though he personally had shoved a knife down her throat.

'Taz,' he croaked, unsure of what his next word was going to be, unsure of her response.

She held his gaze for a moment, her eyes wide and disbelieving, accusing him of some sort of unforgivable treachery. And then her face turned to disgust, to sheer, undisguised revulsion and she turned away from him.

* * *

><p><strong>Dun dun dun...XD And I've left it on a bad note just in time for Christmas, which shows what a loving person I am XD Kidding. (Or am I...) <strong>

**Yeah, I know this one was a bit of a fail, what with corny Doctor Who references and whatnot, but I hope it sufficed. Til next time XX**


	18. A whole lot of misunderstandings

**It's taken me a bit of a long time to get round to this chapter- I've been very busy what with uni open days and (finally) getting my learner's licence (I fail, I could have had it for two years, but never mind) and this chapter has been extremely difficult to write. I've been putting it off, truth be told. But it's done now, and I hope you won't hate me for it.**

**Oh, and the italic bits with the squigglies are flashbacks. Hope they aren't too confusing.**

* * *

><p>It was utter chaos. Taz could see that the second she stepped out of the tunnel and into light. Where the robots had sprung from she wasn't sure, but here they were, gunning and clanking and doing everything they had always done, and all of a sudden Taz was back in the robot wars all over again, an inch from death by robot at every turn. A male version of Megagirl with bronze chest plates zipped into her line of sight and her zapper had propelled a laser beam into its head on autopilot. Knowing the only way to decommission a Megagirl or Megaman unit properly was to lower it slowly into lava, she fired off a shot at each of its hands and through its chest, precisely on target and effectively damaging the circuitry to the main weapons units.<p>

Another robot, a shot to the right. Another, a shot to the left. It was just like it had always been. February bumped into her momentarily, the normally giddily cheerful blonde's brow furrowed in concentration as she ducked the beam from a nearby robot and fired one of her own. A part of Taz took down a mental note- she was impressed. The stupid girl had guts and she'd never noticed. And then she turned and there he was, Up, just like he always was and always had been, a zapper raised, his old tough-guy stance, feet apart and shoulders rising and falling with fierce breath. The robot in front of him was dead meat.

Taz swivelled her own weapon around, gunning down six robots effortlessly in one go, her eyes locked on the Commander all the while, waiting with either smugness or elation, she wasn't sure which, for him to kill the thing and take down the last of his 'soft' reputation with it.

Any second now. Another robot behind her. She turned and killed it in record time. He was still there. It had been at least four seconds. Why hadn't he moved? That wasn't his arm _shaking_, surely?

'Just do it!' she called out, hoping her words would reach him over the gunfire, remind him she was proud, encourage him, 'shoot de tin can!'

He still wasn't moving. _Come on, Up, jou can do it! I know jou can!_

It was taking too long. He needed to hurry up, the 'tin can' was about to kill him- as she could plainly see. Why couldn't _he_? And then his right hand slipped from the trigger, his hand collapsed from the gun altogether and it hit her. He wasn't going to do it.

He wasn't going to try. It hit her like one of her own knives thrown right between her lungs, piercing her heart.

On instinct she swerved to the side, getting a clear view of the robot Up had failed to defeat and a clear line of fire that kept the Commander safe. She took aim, roared a mangled mixture of a battle cry and a swear and slammed the trigger with every finger of her right hand, sending the beam right into the forehead of the metal _hijo de puta _and bringing it down. But her head was still reeling.

Up turned, looking across the battlefield and straight into her eyes. It was so shatteringly heartbreaking for reasons Taz wasn't fully certain of. All she knew was she couldn't bear to look at him right now. She turned away from him.

* * *

><p>Up ducked and dodged firing from all sides, running carelessly across the makeshift battlefield to the small figure now at least a mile away. How she'd suddenly put so much distance between them he didn't know, but Up had to straighten this out with her. That moment, when she'd looked at him with such blatant horror and disgust he'd felt a shudder of pain go right through him and he knew instantly what she was thinking. She hadn't seen him shooting the robots earlier. She thought he'd gone soft again. He couldn't let her think that. A robot clomped into the path in front of him and he swerved out of its way, still running in a straight line. A <em>zing<em>ing noise behind him signified someone else had taken down the offending robot, and that noise snapped Up out of his determined quest.

He was making it worse. He'd just _deliberately_ missed a robot. This was not right. This wasn't him. If he wanted to make things right, to get the message across to Taz that he _was_ tough and he _could_ kill robots, then what he'd just done wasn't helping him one iota. If he wanted to redeem himself, he'd have to act like the killer he was- where she could see him. He started to run, his zapper raised high. Another robot charged at him and he brought it down in one shot, but Taz was busy tearing her own nemesis limb from limb.

'Up!' a hand latched onto his arm, yanking him off his intended path and to the side of the battlefield.

'I've just had a message from Holden,' Crawford whispered, ducking down behind a large rock and dragging Up with him. 'We have no hope of winning this the way we're goin'.'

Up blinked, stealing a look at the fight again. 'Looks like we're doin' fine to me- only about twenty left and we ain't lost a single ranger yet.' That really was something, Up thought as he remembered the full-blown robot wars- as they neared their end nearly every battle, no matter how small, had resulted in the loss of nearly half their team. And that had been with a lot more rangers on their side. These robots seemed like ridiculous cheap versions of the killing machines they had once fought.

'Because this,' Crawford looked more serious than he had in years, 'is just a diversion. This isn't the main army- this is just a handful of the less powerful soldiers to keep us occupied and wear us down- get our numbers down. The rest of their army are gone.'

A funny feeling went across Up's chest. 'Whadja mean gone?'

'They all took off. Left the planet deserted and flew off on a new course.'

That didn't sound like a robot army at all. The armies he had faced in the past would continue to march forward until all humans in their path were annihilated. They had no fear, hence they never retreated. Unless…

Unless they had received orders to do so.

'They got a better plan in mind…' he thought aloud and Crawford raised a finger to the side of his nose.

'Damn straight.' Both Commanders looked at each other and knew something much worse was afoot. The metal men had come, destroyed the planet and then left. They'd had no interest in staying and ensuring it was under their control- and the only reason they would do that was if there were bigger fish to fry- a more important planet in the galaxy to take hold of- the control of which would ensure the rest of the galaxy fell into place.

A planet like earth.

Up swore under his breath. 'They're plannin' another full scale attack.'

* * *

><p>Taz let all her anger and frustration out, channelling it right into her limbs and her weapon. She gave a shriek, clubbing a robot on the head with her gun and ripping its left arm from its socket. Taz had just seen something she didn't want to see. Taz was angry, and woe betide anyone who got on the wrong side of her when she was in this sort of mood. And at this particular moment in time, with a dozen tin cans still alive and kicking, she had plenty of targets to take out her fury on. After they were all dead, however, was a different matter.<p>

'Taz!' The cry of the schience officer behind her caused Taz to pause in her total tearing-apart of her latest victim, and she leapt up and blew the head off the Megatron unit that currently had February in a headlock. She grabbed the blonde by the shoulders, yanking her to one side.

'What are jou doin', _ese_? Jou _loco?_ Don' get too close to dem! Dose tin cans could snap jour neck, _idiota!_'

'My hairdryer ran out of beams,' February squeaked, rattling her zapper in Taz's face. 'I couldn't do anything!' That was the sort of comment that would normally earn February a slap at the very least, but Taz was still somewhat in shock from Up's apparent cowardice.

'Stay wid me,' she grumbled, tugging the schience officer out the way as another beam zipped past their heads and delivering a fatal shot to its sender. The number of robots was now drastically reduced, but the Lieutenant knew they would all still have to work hard to take the remainder down. In one swift movement she discarded the empty cartridge from her zapper, reloaded and positioned her gun once more on her shoulder, scanning the field. From the corner of her eye she noticed two small figures slinking towards the cover of a large rock.

_Oh, _mierda, _don' let dat be Up, _por favour!

Another shot. Another quick glance, just to see the top of a cap and a shock of silver hair disappearing behind the rock.

Her heart sank. Crawford and Up.

_No. No. No puede ser. Not Up. _Crawford she could easily picture as a coward- after all, he was always grovelling around Holden- but Up? He had never hidden from a fight before. Part of her had been almost willing to let the other incident go as a one-off, with a severe shouting at, of course, but she would pretty much let him off, but now…

Twice in one day. That couldn't be a coincidence. He thought he could do nothing, hide and pretend everything was okay? The shock and horror were suddenly replaced with a burning rage- she wasn't just angry, she wasn't just mad, Taz was _in a rage_- it was the maddest she'd ever been.

Hiding from a fight…no, she just couldn't deal with this. When this battle was over, she was going to let him have it.

* * *

><p>His worries about Taz were on the backburner for now. Up comforted himself with a quick, reassuring <em>she loves you, she'll know there's nothing wrong with me, really, <em>and made for the communications device with Crawford the instant they returned from the battle. They needed to get in touch with Holden and fast. This was big. This was huge.

'Commanders Up and Crawford for General Holden, come in please,' Up growled into the mike in his usual gruff tones. A crackling rippled through the barn-base and Holden's authoritative lilt filtered through the device.

'Commanders! Urgent- the robots are planning something- something big.'

'What is it?' Up asked, his raised eyebrows creasing into his forehead.

'Well, that's the thing, Up, we don't know. I received a tip-off from the most unlikely source indicating they planned to bolt and leave you fighting only a fraction of their army. My guess is they've got a base somewhere- somewhere close and we gotta find out where it is and take it back before they get set up and start attacking us.'

'And what about Bug World?' an image of Bug flashed through Up's mind. Had the robots there taken off too?

'We haven't heard back from Bug yet. We sent him down in an extremely fast ship, state-of-the-art, faster than the speed of light, to get him there as soon as possible but we can't get in touch with him to find out if he's arrived yet. Either no reception on the comms device we sent with him has been interfered with. You are both to set a course for Bug World immediately. The rest of the teams down here will continue to look into the disappearance and help the people of Farm Planet reclaim their home. You will find out what is happening down there.'

'But-' Up began. The instructions were straightforward but they were too simple. There were so many things that needed to be sorted out, plans to go through, how they were to get to Bug World and touch down without being blasted into smithereens by hostile robot ships, but Holden seemed abrupt and in a hurry.

'Those are your orders, Commander, now get to it. I expect you to be orbiting Bug World within five days- that is the usual time it takes to reach the planet, isn't it?'

'Yes, but-'

'Good. Get down there and get the buzz on what's going on. Over and out.'

'Wait- General?' this question was voiced by Crawford. 'Who gave you the tip-off?'

Holden sounded as if he were clearing his throat. There was a momentary pause.

'Mrs. Space-Claw.'

* * *

><p>He was a widower again. It had been necessary, just like it had the first time. Doctor Space-Claw wasn't going to try the 'family' thing again. Every time it ended this way. His wife- his stupid, stupid, bimbo-off-the-internet little wife had tipped off General Holden that the army- his <em>true<em> army, not the Starship Rangers- had dispersed and run off to his new base to prepare for the earth invasion. Having a dumb wife had seemed like a good idea at the time- he hoped she wouldn't understand most of his work and it would be safer to leave it lying around, but what she didn't understand she blabbed to the others. She was only supposed to be bringing Holden his coffee- a ploy to get rid of her for a few minutes while he conversed with the robot leaders about their next move and she'd gone and spilled that vital detail in what she called 'casual conversation.'

It was a stroke of luck she hadn't mentioned his name in connection with the plan, and it was easy enough to lie and tell the General he'd tracked the info down himself. It was now up to him to find another way to distract the starship rangers and get them off the trail while he aimed his entire artillery at the earth. He, of course, by the time they attacked would be long gone, off on one of the robot ships, in the place they'd promised him. His place as leader- his rightful place, given he had a brilliant mind, something lacking in the robots he dealt with. But for now there was the question of the second distraction, and the question of what to do with his wife.

He glanced down at her body, her huge eyes even wider in death. Should he say a robot killed her? No, that would start them off preparing the earth for possible invasions and he wanted the place as vulnerable as possible when the time came. An accident of science would be easiest- but what? He sat down and opened his computer, preparing to formulate. It wasn't sad this time, not even a little. And this time he wouldn't have to go through the charade of taking yet another wife and setting up another pretend family unit. He didn't need to- his human-allied-with-the-humans act was nearly over. It couldn't be more than a week- two at the most- now before the final stage of the plan was ready. He would give a few more orders to the rangers- orders that he knew they would obey, in fear for their own safety, so they would think, and then they would be trapped.

And then, oh yes, then, he would be ready to fully take over his rightful place as controller of the robot armies, and take steps to gain supreme power over the entire galaxy.

* * *

><p>The fact that Up had ignored her all the way to the ship and for several hours after they had taken off had not done wonders to improve Taz's mood. In a normal situation, some time apart would be beneficial, would give the unhappy party time to cool down and assess the situation rationally, but Up and Taz's relationship was not a normal situation and Taz was not rational. If anything, the longer she had to wait before a confrontation, the angrier she was becoming and if Up didn't come to talk to her soon she was likely to blow the heads off every ranger on the ship.<p>

She was in his- their- his room, pacing up and down, growling ferociously to herself every time she nearly walked into the wall and remembered the quarters aboard Starship 15A2 were considerably smaller than those at Headquarters. She'd thrown one or two or ten things and broken them. Where was he? She'd wanted him to burst in, to tell her she was just seeing things and he really was a tough son-of-a-bitch, shout back at her when she accused him and prove in that way that nothing was wrong. But he hadn't, and in her irrational mood she'd worked herself up into thinking he was hiding from her, too, because he couldn't face her. The _cobarde._

She grew more impatient still. Unaware of what had gone on between Up, Crawford and Holden, and the important situation taking place right under her nose, she was convinced his absence was to do with his cowardice. And if he didn't come into the room within the next five minutes she was going to go and find him and everyone who stood in her way had better beware.

No, make that two minutes. No, she couldn't wait that long. One minute. No. Why wait?

Taz slammed her hand against the door release and stormed out into the corridors.

* * *

><p>Up stood on the command deck, staring at the screen in front of him and watching as the green blip that constituted his ship started on its slow but sure course toward the red blip representing Bug World. Specs was working on a large collection of wireless gadgets, trying to get a reading on the planet they were approaching and ascertain where and when they could make a safe landing down the track and Tootsie was trying to hush up Krayonder, who was obliviously and excitedly describing all the kills he'd made in front of a very annoyed-looking Megagirl.<p>

There really wasn't much more he could do right now- as Holden said, with a large ship, even at the fastest setting they had they wouldn't reach Bug World for another few days and the others were going to swap watch shifts just in case something started firing at them. All he had to do now was wait. And now, having several days to wait, seemed like as good a time as ever to find Taz. Unlike the Lieutenant, leaving the problem for a while had left him feeling more confident that the incident earlier had been nothing and Taz would have forgotten about it by now.

He would go find her, they would watch a movie and everything would be fine. They would prepare for whatever was happening with the robots together.

Or so he thought, anyway.

The door slid away before the ship's computer had time to belt out '_Lieutenant on deck_', and there stood Taz, the look on her face the like of nothing he'd ever seen before. It was a strange look- it was a mixture of about eight emotions, none of which he could pinpoint.

'Up,' she said and her voice was sharp, 'come here.'

'Hey, Taz!' he smiled at her but she didn't smile back.

'Come here,' Taz repeated. Her voice didn't change. Up's smile faltered a little. Taz was looking straight at him- and at the same time straight through him. Was she okay?

'Commander, we've got a reading,' Specs's voice interrupted whatever was going on- Up couldn't quite work out what exactly was.

'Hold on a sec,' Up murmured to Taz, unaware of the dangerous effect this was having on her already unstable mood, and turning to the bespectacled ranger. 'Whatcha got a reading on?'

'It's nothing to worry about, Commander. We found Bug's ship, that's all. He's still travelling, almost a day ahead of us. I'll continue to try and get through to him, apart from that there's nothing we can do but wait.'

Well, at least no robots preparing to blast them yet.

'Up, _now!' _Her teeth were gritted. Up followed her out the room, shrouded with confusion. Something was wrong with her. She'd never been like this before. Taz, when she was angry would shout and hit and throw things. When she was sad or grieving she would shout and hit and throw things. When she was frightened, she would try to hide it, cover it up with anger.

And shout and hit and throw things.

But she was doing none of this now- and she certainly wasn't happy.

'What's wrong?' he asked her. This couldn't be just about that Megagirl unit, could it? She turned, her eyes flashing with something strange and frightening, and then she struck him across the face.

* * *

><p>It didn't hurt him, not really, when she hit him. It wasn't like when they were down on Bug World. But the emotional pain was crippling.<p>

'Taz! My mug! What's wrong with you?'

And that was when she exploded. _'Me? _What de hell's wrong wid _jou_?' Taz's voice went up and down, pitch all over the place- she hadn't been this out of it since- well, since he first rescued her and she'd thrown a fit. '_Today? _We were in de middle of a battle wid de robots- and jou did _nothing!_'

'Woah, Taz, hang on a mi-'

'_Callar!_ Taz cut in. 'Shut up! I t'ought jou changed! 'Still a killer', jou said! What de hell happened, then? Jou di'n even kill _uno robota!'_

'Wait, is this about that Megagirl? Taz, that was the reconstruction, I'm positive of it!' Up wasn't at all positive, truth be told, but if it would calm Taz, he'd stick to that version of events forever. And anyway, it _could_ have been the reconstruction…

'Dat's bullsh*t! Ees _mierda_, Up, total _mierda- and jou know it_! If dat was just de reconstruction, why did jou dodge all de other robots?'

A memory flashed through his mind. ~ _A robot clomped into the path in front of him and he swerved out of its way, still running in a straight line. A zinging noise behind him signified someone else had taken down the offending robot, and that noise snapped Up out of his determined quest. He was making it worse. He'd just deliberately missed a robot.~_

Up cringed. He'd known that would make everything worse.

'And if dat wasn't bad enough- jou _deserted de battle! _Hiding wid Crawford!'

Another memory. Another cringe. ~_'I've just had a message from Holden,' Crawford whispered, ducking down behind a large rock and dragging Up with him.~_

'That was a m-'

'SHUT UP!' a punch aimed right at his left eye. He dodged to see Taz's fist fly right into the space where his head had been. 'Deserting a battle, Up! Don't jou remember _anything? Anyt'ing jou taught me?_' she grabbed hold of Up's shoulders, shaking him as she stared into his face. 'When I first joined de rangers? Deserters get killed, Up- because dat is de worst crime…'

'No, Taz! That wasn't what happened at all! Don't think I was desertin'- I wasn't…' it was the most he'd managed to get in edgeways since the start of this horrible conversation. This was all just a misunderstanding and it should be easy enough to sort out, once he told her what had really occurred, about Holden's message…

He opened his mouth to do just that but Taz had already gone onto the next part of her speech- and, it seemed, off on a bit of a tangent.

'Jou di'n mean any of it, did jou?'

That stopped him short. 'Mean what?'

'_Anyt'ing!_' Taz shouted. '_Estás mintiendo todo este tiempo!_ Jou haven't changed back at all! Jou're still soft! Soft! Soft! _Soft!_' She was shaking her fist at him ferociously as she spoke and Up could only be grateful she didn't have her knife in her hand.

'But I'm not- I mean I did kill- Taz, you gotta…'

Taz's eyes were narrowed to near slits. '_Te escuche._ Just _listen_ to jou! Jou're pathetic. Jou can't even answer me back any more! Jou're not 'still a killer', jou were just pretending- pretending so jou could get me to like jou-' her voice softened. 'And I t'ought…_me refiero a…_ I really t'ought jou…I was going to tell-I…'

The whole spiel had left Up shellshocked. He didn't know which part of her accusation to deny first- none of it was true- and some of it was wild, as though Taz's mind had been spiralling out of control towards a completely ridiculous conclusion.

'Taz- you don't even know what you're angry about any more…'

There was no reasoning with Taz, though- when she decided something she would argue her head off- and her ears were closed to reason right now.

'I just can't believe jou! I can't believe I t'ought…jou were just trying to act tough so I would like jou- so jou could have someone to protect jou, weren't jou? I knew jou couldn't be trusted…'

Up couldn't believe what he was hearing. He was shocked, he was hurt- and the very idea that he was trying to use Taz to hide behind her toughness and seem tough himself- it pushed him over the edge. He saw red.

'You never could trust me, could ya, Taz?' he shot back, raising his own voice, 'not even then- still don't know your name, do I?'

'Jou listen, you _hijo de…'_

'No, _you _listen, Taz! It's my turn now!' Up was shouting now, his voice echoing off the metal walls, 'when I said I loved you I damn well meant it! I meant every fire-truckin' word of it- maybe it was _you_ who didn't mean it! Ever since my injury you've had a picture in your head of what I'm _supposed to be_- and it's been gettin' more and more exaggerated- Taz, yeh're rememberin' the way it _never was!_ Sure I was tough, but no tougher than I am now- and then you go an' bite my head off because I don't live up to _your_ twisted picture!'

Taz opened her mouth to retort, but then her face took on a strange expression and she shut it again. For a moment her hand twitched, as if she was debating clenching it into a fist and using it for hitting, but she did nothing. Up went on.

'I'm beginnin' to realise you don't love me at all, do ya, Taz? You're in love with the idea of me- of the idea of someone I'm not. You've built my past self up in your head 'til I was somethin' unrealistic an' you're tryin' ter make me live like that- and I just can't do that, Taz.'

Taz's eyes were wide. Her defensive stance evaporated, her anger suddenly dissolved and she was left looking small and helpless- something Taz never appeared to be. Her voice shook when she opened her mouth.

'But…I do love jou…' she said softly.

'Your little rant just then sure as hell didn't prove that, Taz,' Up said. 'You love me _if_ I can be a badass one hundred per cent of the time. You love me _when_ I'm tough. There are no _if_s and _when_s in love.'

She looked at him like he'd slapped her. 'But…' she started again in an even smaller voice, '_lo siento…_I di'n mean…'

'You sure sounded like you meant it,' Up said quietly. 'And it's not like you ain't made your views on this clear before. It was exactly the same down on Bug World. I thought it was a one-off…but it wasn't. It's just what you think o' me.' He sighed and turned away.

'Up…' she reached out to touch his arm and he withdrew it.

'I can't talk to you right now, Taz.' There was an odd coldness to his voice. Up turned and walked back towards the command deck, letting the door slide closed behind him.

Taz stared at it for a while, her teeth chattering and her hands shaking, and then abruptly sat down on the floor, unwilling to process the consequences of what had just occurred.

_Oh, mierda,_ she thought. _¿Qué he hecho?_

_What have I done?_

* * *

><p><strong>Please don't hate meeeee. I hate leaving it there- and I hated writing this fight but it had to be done.<strong>


	19. When you get knocked down

**I realised I haven't done a disclaimer for a while, so to recap, I don't own anything.**

**Anyway...here be-eth the chapter.**

* * *

><p>The atmosphere on the command deck was so tense if someone had touched it, it might have shattered. The other rangers all sat awkwardly at their posts as Commander Up returned to the room, clearly making an effort to keep his face calm. No-one said a word to him, all trying their hardest to appear as though they were working and pretending they hadn't heard what had just gone on in the corridors.<p>

It had been a terrible din, and although they couldn't pick out every word, (even the nosier rangers, namely Krayonder and February, who had tried to do so) all of them could tell something bad was afoot. Apart from Megagirl, (having not yet downloaded any compassion or empathy towards others) to whom the emotional affairs of any human except her husband were unimportant and was therefore just going about her duties as normal, everyone was on edge.

Specs tapped away at the controls, keeping her head down. February pretended to be brushing her hair. Tootsie pulled a ukulele out from inside his shirt and tried to look as if he were working on some Farm Planet folk song.

Up stood in the centre of the room for a moment, tapping his foot and saying nothing. Nobody moved, but somehow Up could feel all their eyes on him, even if they weren't looking directly at him.

'_What_?' he snarled, throwing sharp looks around the command deck. No-one dared speak, and so he turned on his heel and stomped off into another room.

* * *

><p>Oh, mierda, Taz thought as the door to the command deck closed, blocking Up from her sight. <em>¿Qué he hecho? What have I done? Up is in dere, hurt, because I had to open my <em>muy estúpido_ mouth too soon…_

She wasn't sure if she was angry with him or not. She wasn't sure of anything right now. The only thing she was sure of right now was that if she didn't get up off the floor right now, someone might come along and see her and that would damage her reputation. She was, after all, a tough son-of-a-bitch. She stood up, dusted herself off and walked slowly and calmly to her room. She deliberately walked at a snail's pace, forcing her face to remain blank, her breathing to remain even, her stride to remain casual.

On the starship, her room was right next door to Up's, but she didn't want to dwell too much on that now, let alone the fact that she had planned to stay with him for the duration of their trip. She couldn't go in there now- not even to get some of her stuff back- she couldn't face a confined space filled with Up's scent and belongings, not when everything was so wrong.

She stepped instead into her tiny room, taking in miserably the narrow single bed and two or so feet that separated it from the wardrobe. Taz turned, hitting the buttons to close and lock the door, and then, when all precautions had been taken to ensure no-one else could hear her or get in, she collapsed onto her bed, curled herself into a foetal position and allowed herself to cry.

What had Up done? What had she done? She hadn't meant the things she'd said- not really. She'd been blinded by her anger and confusion, letting it overshadow her rational thinking and judgement and taking her frustration on everything that had gone on over the past few weeks out on Up. It wasn't _his_ fault the robots were back, nor that they had tricked the rangers down on Farm Planet- and yet somehow she had subconsciously stored up her fury at these facts and allowed them to pile up with all her other insecurities, until she'd erupted.

Taz had never let that happen before- aside from the time down on Bug World when she'd punched him in the face and threatened to cut him open, but she had been extremely provoked then- and in all honesty she didn't know entirely what had come over her.

She'd seen the anguish on his face as her words cut into him- the image was burned in front of her eyes and she shivered, clenching her fists as she thought about the harsh things she'd said. Up didn't deserve them. But then again, Up had done some pretty cowardly things back then. And now she came to think of it, what if she _had_ been right? What if Up _had_ been using her to look tougher in front of his crew? It was a possibility…

_No. Is not. _Taz kicked herself in the shin. He'd been tough about the reconstruction, and he could well have died from that…and what about the bugs? What about the mosquitos he'd blown to pieces with his heart?

But none of those were robots, were they? Maybe he still had a thing about robots…

And then, of course, there was the resemblance-to-Megagirl thing to cope with, and the fact that he'd said his arm was still playing up from the reconstruction.

There were good reasons for both sides of the argument, and Taz just didn't know what to think. She curled up even tighter, resting her chin on her knees and folding her arms around her legs, trying to keep still as she sobbed. What was she supposed to do? She wanted to go apologise, but Taz was a stubborn girl at the best of times and the thought of doing so before Up had admitted his own error in the situation just wasn't her style.

Every time a set of footsteps sounded down the hall Taz stiffened, hoping Up would burst in, tell her he loved her and he was sorry for giving her cause to worry. She would throw her arms around him with ferocious passion and then apologise for all the heartless things she'd said. But the footsteps always passed. They were never him.

Taz rolled over and her back bumped against the wall. She wasn't comfortable. She longed for a larger bed, another figure in it, one who would enfold her in warm arms and lull her to sleep with his heavy breath. She'd always pretended to hate it when he breathed down her neck, but being separated from Up, she missed everything, even that.

The temptation to just give in and grovel, apologise until she felt his arms around her and heard his voice forgiving her profusely, was immense.

Taz sat up, slowly easing herself up to her feet, ready to give in. She took a tentative step towards the door and then stopped herself.

_I'm not weak like dat. If he loves me he will come to me and say so. If he don't, he is a _bastardo _and I am wasting my time._

Setting her jaw she marched back to her bed and lay down, folding her arms. She would stick to this decision.

* * *

><p>Up refused to consciously allow himself to be optimistic as he pressed the door release to his room- <em>their<em> room, he had previously thought, and still secretly hoped it would be. He kept telling himself to expect the worst but as the door slid away and he found himself stood before an empty room he couldn't stop the moan of disappointment that had escaped him. It had been a terrible day without her and all he wanted was to see her again, looking at him the way she had before their horrific row. He wanted to rush into her arms and tell her he was sorry at the same time as she apologised so everything would be all better again.

By the looks of things that wasn't likely to happen, though. She wasn't in the room. He paced the entire space in the pathetic hope she might still be in there somewhere, just hidden, or he might have missed her the first time, but no such luck. Up sighed and slumped horizontally across his bed- hamburger, not hotdog this time- and stared up at the ceiling. It wasn't fair. He loved her so much- so much it physically stung him, and it seemed now that she thought of him only as a manipulative coward- a cheap echo of what he used to be and of whom she had actually loved.

One of Taz's G.L.E.E. issue jackets, black for a Lieutenant, still lay on the foot of the bed from where she had carelessly tossed it a couple of days before. Up reached his arm to the side, grabbing hold of it and pulling it towards him. He held it up in front of his face, unsure of what he was doing and then cradled it to his chest, trying to imagine it was Taz.

'Why…' he murmured to himself, breathing heavily and trying not to let out the tears building in the corner of his eyes. 'Taz… my little love…'

He wanted her not to mean it. He wanted her to come back to him. Every creak or clank that resounded in the corridor outside his room caused him to jump and sit up, his heart pounding as he waited for her to come inside. She didn't.

_She loves me…_he told himself, hardly believing it even as he did, _she'll come back here_- _she's gotta. She'll come back and tell me she loves me and she's sorry._ Thoughts floated around his head- last time they'd properly fought- over him and his reconstruction- she'd pretended to stay mad for hours and then in the early hours of the morning she'd crept back into his room and everything had been okay. Up was clinging to the hope that this would be a similar case- that she'd come back and they could forget everything that had just occurred. He prayed and wished and hoped that was how it would all end- but the stabbing pain in the pit of his stomach kept telling him otherwise.

It was worse this time- so much worse. She might never forgive him for what he had supposedly done. He wasn't fully sure he could forgive her for what she had said. No, that was ridiculous. He knew he'd forgive her no matter what. He couldn't function without her. But that didn't mean he wasn't hurt by what she'd said. The conflicting thoughts churned around in his brain- go grovelling to her? No, that would make him look worse…should be cut his losses, try to move on and maybe get back to being friends with her? But that just didn't seem right...he loved her, he really did.

He thrashed about on the bed, uncomfortable despite the reasonably soft mattress and finding no relief in any position. He knew what would easily calm him- the familiar warmth of a small Hispanic ranger cuddled up close- but he didn't have that, not at the moment anyway. Just _that morning, dammit!_ they'd been passionately kissing and Taz had been about to say something important to him. _Jou can never get rid of me, _she'd said when he'd feared she might be breaking up with him. Now he wasn't so sure of that.

He twisted about a little more, his right arm twinging with the effort- _see, _he thought, _it _was_ just the reconstruction affectin' me out there._

He thought and fretted and went through the whole process again, tired but nowhere near sleeping. Time rolled by but he didn't pay any attention to it. He just watched the ceiling and mulled everything over.

By the time he heard the shuffly footsteps of the other rangers, walking past to their various rooms and getting ready for bed, he'd made up his mind- or rather, he'd made a decision and had decided, for the sake of saving himself more hours tossing and trying to work out what to do, that he was going to stick with it.

_If she really loves me, she'll come to me and say so. If she doesn't- then I'm obviously wasting my time with her. If she doesn't come back she clearly doesn't want to fix this- and I should give up and get back up._

* * *

><p>Taz lay on her back, her eyes on the ceiling and the wafting patterns made by the stars outside her porthole. Time inched by on its stomach. She must have checked the standard-issue clock by her bed a dozen times in succession, only to find each time that less than a minute had gone by since she last looked.<p>

_¿Dónde está Up? Why isn't he coming?_

She flicked her knife out its sheath and fiddled with it, trying to do something, anything to take her mind off the time. Not even thirty seconds had gone by this time. She crossed over to the porthole and looked at the stars, trying to count them, but that didn't work either. Sleep was out of the question. She'd been up since before five this morning but she couldn't drop off, not with all the thoughts swirling round her head. She wanted the time to hurry along, but at the same time if morning came before Up did…

_Come to me, Up. _She frequented glances behind her to the door until the stars and the darkened room were blurring together. _Por favor, Up. Te amo mucho._

* * *

><p>Unlike in his room at Headquarters, Up wasn't woken by the rising sun coming through his window, or Taz, but by his alarm. It had been a long time since he'd needed it- and indeed Taz had broken several of them in a row so he'd had to make do without them.<p>

Now, on Starship 15A2, the shrill beeping sound snatched him from a sleep he didn't know he'd even been in to start with- it couldn't have been more than a semi-conscious doze, and he didn't feel rested at all. It was still dark- as it always was in space. Up stretched and groaned, groping towards the other side of the bed and a familiar warmth. His arm found nothing. No, wait, there was something- a shape, something tucked beneath the blankets beside him.

_Taz?_

Up clapped his hands and the light bulb above his head came flickering on, filling the room with harsh white light. He turned and his heart sank right towards his stomach. It wasn't Taz. It was just the jacket he'd been clutching last night, and which he had at some point let go of as he tossed and turned.

She hadn't come.

_That doesn't mean she doesn't love you, _Up tried to tell himself, _there are loads of reasons why she might not have come._

He couldn't convince himself of it, though. If Taz had really wanted to see him, she would have done so- that was just the sort of person she was. She clearly didn't want to try and amend this- not even talk about it.

She clearly didn't want him anymore.

* * *

><p>The morning brought with it a meeting between Starships 15A2 and 17G5. Flying very close together and on autopilot for the time being, it was simple enough for Crawford's crew to jump across to Up's ship in a small drop pod.<p>

'Hey, everyone! What's goin' down!' Criss's voice was the first to be heard as the doors of the drop pod opened. A couple of quiet groans were heard. Krayonder, however, was more than happy to see his friend again.

'Toby! Yo! Have I _ever_ got news for you, man!'

The two seemed to be revving up for a decent dirty-gossip session, and in the absence of both Up and Taz, who hadn't been seen at all since last night, Crawford saw fit to step in.

'Lieutenant! Ensign! That's enough for now, you can catch up after this meeting!' As usual, Crawford had mistaken himself for a more well-respected Commander than he actually was, and by now everyone had split off into little groups to greet each other.

'Ahem,' he said again, putting a hand on his hip. No-one paid him the slightest attention.

'OI! _IDIOTAS! _SHUT UP!_' _the shout stopped everyone in their tracks, both crews turning, startled, to where the figure of Lieutenant Taz had appeared at the end of the corridor. 'What are jou all doin' hangin' around like dis? Jou're all _perezosos bastardos_- now get a move on!'

'Woooh,' Criss murmured to Krayonder. 'Get a load of Taz! She looks _real _mad!'

'Tell ya about it after,' Krayonder whispered back. 'Dude, it's seriously bad.'

'_What are jou two still standin' dere for, _ese?' Taz was not putting up with anything today. Taz, when hurt, covered it up with anger and did what she always did- shouted and hit and threw things, and both rangers knew if they didn't get to the meeting this instant a knife was likely to be flying towards their heads- if they were lucky. They scurried off to join the others.

'Okay, people,' Crawford said when they'd all taken seats around a long table (all but one- Up's seat remained empty), 'any news from Bug?'

'Still trying to pick him up on the radar, sir,' Specs piped up. 'My readings indicate he'll be on Bug World in another two days at his current speed- we'll be there in three to four tops. I can't get in touch with him.'

There was a brief pause. Crawford scratched the back of his head.

'So, uh...now what do we do?'

Taz growled. 'Jou got de nerve to call jourself a Commander? Dis is de most _estúpido _meeting I've ever been in!'

'Where's Commander Up?' a ranger from Crawford's team asked. The crew of 15A2 all fell silent, casting nervous glances at Taz. The 17G5 rangers looked confused, but dared not speak after catching a glimpse of the red spreading across the Hispanic Lieutenant's face. The girl's shoulders were tensing.

'I mean, he'd know what else to discuss, right?' the ranger went on tactlessly, unaware of the emotional damage he was worsening. 'Where _is_ Up?'

'Oh, WHO CARES!' Taz had gotten to her feet so fast her chair smashed backwards into the ground. She grabbed a folder off the table and hurled it at the unfortunate ranger with such impressive force that he couldn't dodge quickly enough, copping it in the shoulder. Taz turned sharply, kicking the chair out of the way, leaving a dent in the leg, and stormed out the door, slamming the door release so hard the panel covering the buttons fell to the ground with a clatter.

'Anyone going to fill us in on _that?'_ Crawford asked, looking pointedly at Up's crew.

'Yeah,' Criss said, practically clapping his hands- he loved the drama. 'Spill it, guys!'

Specs, Krayonder and Tootsie all exchanged glances. February got to her feet with a little bounce and headed towards the door.

'Hey- where are you going?'

'I'm gonna find Up!' February called over her shoulder. Crawford called to her to come back but to no avail. He turned back to the assembled rangers.

'Okay, spill,' Criss said again.

* * *

><p>Taz didn't want to go anywhere near the sleeping quarters- if Up wasn't at the meeting that was most likely where he was- instead heading for the gym and giving the nearest punching bag a severe pounding. If it had been a person it would have been haemorrhaging severely by the time she was through with it, and on the verge of death to boot.<p>

She'd been dreading the morning meeting- she didn't know how she would handle seeing Up after all that happened. She couldn't trust herself not to kill him if she saw him- not that she wanted to, she still loved the _idiota_, even if he didn't love her, but she couldn't keep all her feelings under control. She was relieved now that he hadn't been there. She knew after she had thrown a folder at Crawford's ensign just for mentioning his name that had he been present, although she didn't want to kill him she would have ended up at least maiming or seriously injuring him.

Taz delivered a side-kick to the punching bag and it swung right into the wall. She could always work out her frustration in either a good fight or a good workout (or in best cases, both). Today it didn't seem to be helping, though. There was a dull throb in her chest, each beat stinging a little, and no amount of pummelling would take her mind off it or lessen it even slightly. The only thing, she sensed, that would take it away was Up, but the last thing he'd said to her was _I can't talk to you_-after accusing her of never really loving him- and he hadn't since.

_Ay ay ay, _Taz thought. _Lo que es un lío Why did I open my big mouth? I should have just walked all dat stress off and calmed down._ Much as she hated Up's breathing exercises, throwing pillows at him when he did them before bed, she had to admit they might have been useful in this case- to calm her down. That or she was so severely upset she was willing to believe anything, wish anything could have happened that might have changed it, playing with _what-ifs_ in her mind. It had been less than a day and Taz was suffering immensely.

She'd had Up- his friendship, at least- for eight and a half years now and she had, in all honesty, become dependent on him. It was so hard to function without him by her side for even this long. Even when he'd been whiny and under-confident in the two years after his injury she'd stayed close, as close as she could, to make sure, despite her annoyance at his condition, that he was okay. And although they'd had their fair share of fights over those eight and a half years, they'd never been driven to such a state before.

Taz aimed another punch at the bag in front of her and then pulled it back. She slumped down to the floor, hating herself even as she did so for letting all of this get her down and not getting back up…

…getting back up. That's what _Up_ taught her to do.

That last thought was what made her lose it. She burst into tears.

Taz sat there and cried, until a shuffling, a bump and a shout of pain from somewhere above her jerked her out of her state.

She jumped to her feet. 'Who's dere?' she demanded furiously. 'Show jourself- or I will kill jou!'

The grate enclosing the air vent a few feet away fell to the ground with a clatter and Taz's face turned to utter disbelief as she came face-to-face with a very frightened-looking young recruit. She blinked.

'Reilly?'

* * *

><p>Up knew he should have been at the meeting. As Commander it was his obligation, no, his duty, to be there- and if General Holden knew he hadn't done it he would be in for a serious reprimand- and if he was unlucky, a demotion- but he just couldn't face it today. He would be there. Taz would be there. He didn't know what she would do- or to be honest, what he would do. He still loved her- but he didn't know how he would act around her now. Up knew he was being a coward- he would have to face her sometime, but with very little sleep last night and a still-throbbing heart he simply wasn't up to it. He needed more time to recover.<p>

_Jou taught me somet'ing once…no matter how hard jou get knocked down jou always gotta get back up… _the words haunted him. He knew that was what he should be doing- he _had_ been knocked down pretty hard, so the only place to go was up- but it was Taz who had said that to him and the thought brought on a round of tears.

Up hadn't cried this hard since…well, since he'd sat on Bug's lap, talking about the 'Sir, I wanna buy these shoes' Christmas song. Well, he figured, he was justified then- that song _was_ pretty sad, even if it was cheesy, and this was doubly as upsetting. He didn't have Taz anymore. She'd accused him of never loving her and he hadn't seen her since.

A knock at the door caused him to jump. He sat up, still snuffling.

'Who is it?' His heart took off again at the thought that it might be Taz, and maybe that she might still come to make things right.

But then February's velvety voice called out an 'Uuuup, can I come iiiin?' and he sank back down into his misery.

'I 'unno, February,' Up mumbled. The schience officer was one of the last people he wanted to see in this state.

'Aw, come on honeeey,' the Commander winced at her sickly, patronising tone, 'lemme iin!'

Up turned over on the bed, shutting his eyes and refusing to answer. Behind him he heard a click as someone swiped a pass card and a scraping as the door slid away.

'How did you do that?' he was on his feet, jaw dropping in astonishment as February closed the door behind her and skipped across the room towards him. 'You ain't authorised- ya need a Commander's pass to get through that door!'

February grinned and held up a card, waving it under his nose so Up could see Crawford's photo on it.

'Where'dja get that?'

'I stole it!' the schience officer said cheerfully, bouncing onto the bed. 'From Crawford's pocket this morning!'

Up groaned. 'What do you want?'

'I wanted to see if you were okay,' she patted his head in what was probably supposed to be a reassuring gesture but in reality just annoyed him. Up moaned again and lay back down.

'So are you? Okay, I mean?'

'Do I look okay to you?' Up snapped.

'Mm, I guess not…this is 'cause you and Taz had a fight, right?'

'You're a genius, Feb,' the Commander grumbled sarcastically.

'I know, I am, aren't I! Just 'cause I don't always get a hundred per cent on those schience tests doesn't mean I'm dumb. I try to tell people that- it was just that I didn't know the answers!'

Up had heard all this before. 'Look, February, this really ain't helpin'…'

'Oh, right, the fight!' February instantly made her face look serious. 'Why don't you just, like, talk to Taz? Me and Bug had a fight once- 'cause he lied about being a bug…'

'Yeah, I remember…'

'But I forgave him! Girls do that!'

'Taz won't.'

'Oh, come on!' the cheerful face was appearing again- February couldn't help it. 'Sure she will! She's your girlfriend! She loves you!'

'Does she?' Up could feel tears coming again and frantically turned his head. He didn't want to cry in front of her. 'Is she? I just don't know anymore!' His emotions won over his determination to stay strong and a tear leaked from his eye.

'I just don't know anymore…'

* * *

><p><strong>Am I just deliberately being cruel now? Well, actually, I do have a plan with all of this so I hope you won't despise me too much.<strong>

**In the meantime, a little bit of stuff did happen this time around. We learned Criss's first name is Toby (I wonder why...XD) and Reilly is back. Next time will feature more actual plot, as in what is actually happening on Bug World and with the robots and Space-Claw, so I guess this was pretty much a filler but it did have a sort of purpose.**

**I'm gonna stop rambling now.**


	20. In which a few things occur at once

**I know, this took so long, but I got rather distracted. Also, I've been working on a special fic for Valentine's Day and that's taken up quite a bit of my time. I shall be posting that one in about a week or so...**

**Also, I have been doing my uni enrolment. One of my subjects is Spanish! I am rather excited.**

**Anyway, I hope this chapter is okay. Here goes. I apologise in advance for the billions of outside references that I sneaked in here. There are far too many.**

* * *

><p>It was a day like any other when two egg planters popped their heads out from underground, anticipating the whooshing noise they had just picked up with their antennae to be a friendly starship bearing their Ambassador Bug with it. Something silver streaked across the horizon of Bug World at a tremendous speed and vanished into the horizon, and the two egg planters shrugged and went back down to the hive to continue their work. They didn't give it another thought for the rest of the day.<p>

It wasn't until a few mornings later, when the first clanking and beeping sounds started resonating from the surface of the planet right through the dirt to their underground hive, and continued to worsen throughout the day, that the Overqueen managed to drag herself away from Roach to send a few bugs to check what they were. The three chosen bugs, two mammal-wranglers and a rather large snail, already drunk even though it was only early afternoon, crept out onto the surface of the planet. Nothing. They could see nothing.

They inched forward a few more metres and ducked behind a rock.

'Why are we sneaking around?' the first mammal-wrangler asked. 'There's clearly nothing here.'

That was when the metallic voice whistled through the air. '_Life signs de-tec-ted_…'

The bugs shrank back a little. 'What was that?'

'It sounded like those things…you know, Bug told us about…robots…'

'What are they doing here? Does Bug know?'

'I'M A ROBOT!' the snail hiccupped, far too loudly for someone hiding. The other two frantically tried to shush him with murmurs of 'quiet- you're drunk,' but once the snail's mouth was open it was not easily closed.

'NO, _I'M_ DRUNK!' he yelled. The mechanical whirring they had started to hear was getting closer.

'_Sound waves in-di-cate crea-tures wi-thin a ten mile ra-d-i-us…_' the mammal-wranglers' antennae had picked up at least four robots heading their way. They had no idea whether robots were friends or foes- Bug's details had been a little sketchy on that. They knew one of them, the 'mega girl' one, was on their side, but until Bug confirmed that this lot of robots weren't hostile, they didn't want to take any chances.

'We gotta get back to the hive!'

'WE _ARE_ BACK AT THE HIVE!' the drunk snail shouted, confirming their presence to the robots. A barrage of laser beams rained down on the rock and the bugs ran (or rather, the faster bugs carried the intoxicated snail) in the direction of the hive, scuttling down a tunnel just as another round was fired. They knew one thing now- these robots were not friendly.

None of them dared venture above ground for days afterwards. Every day the clanking noises grew louder, and the bugs could have sworn the hostiles were building something. They wanted Bug. They wanted to know what to do.

* * *

><p>'We gotta get 'em back together!' was Lieutenant Criss's first reaction to the news of Up and Taz's horrendous row. 'This is terrible!'<p>

Specs nodded her assent. 'It is. Neither of them are functioning properly due to their distress, and we need them to be in physically and emotionally good shape for a possible robot confrontation…'

'No, that's not what I meant!' Criss said, leaping to his feet and then realising, to his extreme embarrassment, that he had torn his pants against the leg of the chair in doing so. 'I mean, if they break up for good then Krayonder and I are gonna lose all our money!' He sat back down, trying to cross his ankles in an attempt to hide the rip in his trousers.

Krayonder hadn't even thought of this. 'Wooooah!' he shouted, his jaw dropping. 'Wooooah! Wooah! The bet! I forgot!' he buried his head in his hands. 'I had to get an advance on my wages to pay for the last time! I can't afford to lose again!'

'And I had to cancel my order for a hot wax-strip unsightly hair remover!' Criss wailed, joining his friend in the depths of despair.

'It's all over, man!' Krayonder moaned. '_Hasta luego,_ dude, ten-four, good buddy…'

And the two proceeded to cry, leaving the rest of their shipmates furious with their shallow priorities and having to discuss the robot problems themselves.

* * *

><p>Up would have been embarrassed, had he not been so miserable he was beyond all embarrassment. It was humiliating to be crying in front of February, but he was and there was nothing he could do to stop himself. The schience officer was making all sorts of pathetic attempts to cheer him up, patting him on the back and telling him it would 'be okay, honey,' and that, if anything, made him cry even more.<p>

He didn't want to be crying. He hadn't since Bug World- even when he'd been facing possible death when the reconstruction loomed in front of him he hadn't cried. It was a soft thing to do. Taz had said so many times. As that last thought hit him he gasped hysterically. If she could see him now she'd be even more disgusted.

'You know what you should do, right?' February said when he stopped for long enough to get his breath back, but at that moment the ship's computer interrupted, and Up never found out what it was that he 'should do, right?'

_Urgent message for Commander Up in the control room_, grated the computer. _Doctor Space-Claw attempting to connect._

Up leapt to his feet, his flood of tears stopping at the sudden shock. What did Space-Claw want with _him_?

* * *

><p>Calling Commander Up- another of his more brilliant ideas. The rangers, on General Holden's orders, had all taken off for Bug World- a fact which infuriated him until he realised it wouldn't hinder his plans at all. It had taken the robots less time than they had anticipated to put together their brilliant new weapons and begin to point them in the direction of the earth. Not a single bug had made an attempt to stop them- in fact, they'd only seen a couple at first, who were foolishly curious enough to have a sniff around and then frantically fled when the robots turned their guns on them. It was working better than he thought it would.<p>

Now came the next phase- get the Starship Rangers into as vulnerable a position as he could manage. With three of the starships still down on Farm Planet to fight the handfuls of second-rate robots he'd left scattered across the planet, and another two on their way to Bug World, plus the other usual odd jobs and missions that had claimed a proportion of the others, the G.L.E.E. Headquarters was looking especially defenceless and empty, and earth ripe for the taking. The only thing that might possibly stand in his way was if Starships 15A2 and 17G5 got to Bug World before his next stage was complete, and were strong enough to stop him in his tracks.

He needed Bug World, it now housed all his major weapons- the type that could destroy whole planets in a single shot, as well as the majority of his army- it would be their permanent base from now on, somewhere to create and sustain troops and send them out across the universe to claim it for him. And he did not need some cocky humans messing it all up for him. Of course, whether or not the rangers actually managed to fight him was all down to their commander- no group functioned well without a strong leader. The outcome all came down to Commander Up.

Crawford, as everyone knew, was a decent enough soldier but not a terribly brilliant strategist, and his habit of trying to sound important whilst grovelling to his superiors meant he didn't have much influence or respect among his crewmembers. He would be no problem- leave a whole army in his care and you'd lose half of them within a day. It was a miracle he'd gotten through the robot wars.

Up was different. He was tough. He was strong. He'd survived a robot war, being cut in half, two reconstructions and many other things besides. And he was a damn good strategist, a damn good leader, damn good at slaughtering robots. He held his crew together, it was because of him they'd done so well. Space-Claw knew what idiots Up had on his team, having hand-picked the crew for the original Bug World mission- a science officer who didn't have a clue about science, a ranger who wore a sideways cap and spoke (and thought) like a surfer dude, a hick who was raised on a farm and knew nothing about guns.

With Up out of the picture, they'd soon fall apart- they wouldn't have a clue what to do. Hence this call.

Space Claw positioned himself in front of the screen the way he always did- visible only from the neck down, his Darth Vader-esque helmet obscured, even though people had seen it many times. He punched in the number to call and waited.

A series of clicks indicated his call had been received. He clenched his robotic fist, cleared his throat and spoke into the microphone in his usual deep, menacing voice.

'Commander Up, come in, do you read?'

'_I read…'_ came a scratchy drawl and the screen flickered to life, revealing a very tired-looking Commander Up. Had Space-Claw not slowly been draining himself of human feeling (using a very reliable method known as 'the Dalek Method' the robots had taught him) he might have been taken aback by the ranger's appearance. Dark rings shadowed Up's eyes as though he hadn't slept, the man's fake moustache appeared to droop and his eyes were red and watery and half-closed, making the scar across the left one appear more pronounced. Not exactly the picture of a brave warrior worth getting rid of, but Space-Claw had made a plan and he intended to stick with it.

'_What was it you wanted, sir?'_ his tone of voice was polite enough, but Space-Claw could see through that to the disdain masked underneath. Up had suspected his part in the Junior plan, and it had been under his orders that the dangerous reconstructions had gone ahead- it was no wonder he didn't sound all that trusting. Another reason why disposing of him was so necessary- he might guess Space-Claw's bionic hands were behind this, and the Head of the Whole Galactic League needed his part in the robots' plot to be kept hidden until the optimal moment.

'Your urgent presence is required at Headquarters,' Space-Claw said. He saw the Commander's eyebrows rise into his forehead.

'_Why? With all due respect, sir, we're headin' on a course down to Bug World, we can't turn the ship around just like that…'_

'_Your_ urgent presence is required at Headquarters,' Space-Claw specified. 'I said nothing about your crew. You will take a drop pod and return to earth.'

'_Why?'_ Up said again. _'What's happened down there? What about the others?_'

'Do not question the orders of Doctor Space-Claw!' he was getting rather on the impatient side now, 'You are to do as instructed. You will board a drop pod within the hour and return to Headquarters, on pain of instant dismissal from the Galactic League should you fail to comply. This is a matter of the utmost urgency. The others will continue this mission without you.'

The Commander had clearly opened his mouth to protest when Space-Claw jabbed the button to end the call, causing Up's image to flicker out of sight. It was done. It was beginning to fall into place. Commander Up would return to earth- and what he would find there would not be pleasant.

Space-Claw allowed a maniacal laugh as he turned to pick up his communications device, switching it on and establishing instant contact with the robot base.

'Unit 9812,' he said, listening for the mechanical reply, 'prepare your army for phase four.'

* * *

><p>'Reilly? What <em>de hell<em> are jou doing here?' Taz's surprise at seeing the cadet she disliked most aboard the starship was quickly turning into rage. 'Do jou know what de penalty is for stowing away, jou _cabron?_ Get down here, now!'

Reilly shuffled forward and wriggled out of the air vent, dropping down ungracefully onto one of the gym mats. Taz's hand was already on its journey toward her knife.

'What do jou have to say for jourself, _ese_?'

'It wasn't my idea!' he shot her a defiant look, and she was reminded why she didn't like him, 'it was _those_ idiots!' he jabbed a finger at the vent and Taz turned her head slowly, praying 'those idiots' weren't who she thought they were. Her heart sank as Henry waved sheepishly to her, and she knew even before they emerged one by one that Brian, Kelly and Denise were there too. Somehow her four favourite recruits, in a bout of behaviour so characteristic of hers it almost scared her, had managed to sneak on board the ship. How long had they been here?

'What _de hell?'_ Taz repeated, although, as Reilly was quick to point out (and receive a kick in the shin for his efforts), her tone was significantly softer when she addressed them. 'Coming wid me to help fix up Megagirl was one t'ing, but dis…' she exhaled sharply, running one hand through her hair, 'what do jou have to say about all dis?'

'Well…' Brian began, looking at his feet and not at Taz.

'Those idiots they've got teaching us aren't showing us anything useful,' Denise took over, 'we're not learning anything but _calculus_ at the moment- and all the rangers are talking about new robot uprisings!'

'We thought we might come where we could be more help to the League,' Henry said, 'we know you're taking on the robots- and we'd much rather be doing that than sketching curves…'

Taz restrained herself from letting out a hysterical laugh. She could not believe this! After only a few months' worth of training, after they'd barely handled a zapper, they believed they could just take off and gun down a lot of killer tin cans, on their own, without permission, without fully knowing what they were up against…

That was _ridículo, _that was _estúpido, _that was reckless and…

…and that was so utterly like _her_, Taz thought, reminiscent of her own days in training, when she'd attempted a feat almost identical to something quite similar. _No wonder Up calls them de 'Little Tazzes'…_

The thought sent a painful jolt right through her body. _Up._ Her shock at seeing five teenage stowaways on the ship had allowed her to forget the horrors of last night, but all it took was one mention of the Commander's name in her head to bring back the mind-numbing emotional pain. Her legs felt like jelly.

She forced herself not to let these emotions show. 'Well, _sí_, dose _idiotas_ doing de teaching right now are stupid…and we are facing robot uprisings…but dat does not give jou de excuse to hide aboard someone's ship and run off without notice! Jou could have died! What would happen if I hadn't found jou, _ese?'  
><em>All of them looked slightly ashamed and embarrassed. Taz went on.

'What if de _robotas_ found jou first? Jou'd be dead meat by now! Jou did bring zappers to defend jourselves with, right? Jou were _prepared_ for dat, right?'

They looked at each other and said nothing.

'Oh, _mierda,_ tell me jou at least brought _weapons_ wid jou!'

Still no response. Taz threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. Maybe they weren't as similar to her as she thought- she would never have left anywhere without at least her knife…

'Jou do realise we're in deep space right now,' Taz said crossly, 'we are on a course to Bug World, because some _killer_ robots appear to be dere. We're supposed to be speeding up to get dere sooner…we might not be able to get jou _idiotas_ back home!'

'Then we'll just have to stay and fight, won't we?' Henry gave her that smirk that looked painfully like Up's and she couldn't help but let a little more of her anger drain. She rolled her eyes, huffing and pretending she was still furiously annoyed.

'We'll have to discuss dis wid de Commanders,' she said, gesturing towards the door, 'see what dey decide to do wid jou. Come along.'

She turned and made for the doorway, unable to stop herself shooting her four favourites just a little amused smile. By all accounts they shouldn't be here and she knew it, but it was rather nice, she thought, to be in the company of someone who liked and admired you, especially when everything else in your life was going so spectacularly wrong.

'But did jou _have_ to bring Reilly?' she muttered to Kelly as they left the gym, the four 'Little Tazzes' trotting along after Taz, Reilly trudging after them with a scowl.

'He found out what we were doing and was going to tell the General,' Kelly murmured back, 'so we had to threaten him, and then we thought we might have to take him as a hostage to ensure he didn't tell anyone.'

It took all Taz was worth not to let the laugh out that time. Like her through and through.

The thought almost cheered her up from the fact that talking to the others about this new mini-crisis meant talking to Up. But nothing could cheer her up from that, nothing at all, and Taz's smile faded and her limbs liquefied more and more with each step they took. She was going to have to talk to Up about this, and she had no idea how he'd behave towards her. Nor, more importantly, did she have any clue how _she_ would behave towards _him._

* * *

><p>'With the engines working at maximum capacity, and by shutting down a few nonessential power drains,' Specs had had a breakthrough and was in full flow, 'such as all TVs, deluxe cooking appliances, the lighting in rooms we rarely use, we should be able to increase our speed by two hundred per cent, meaning our ships will reach Bug World tomorrow night at the latest!'<p>

Crawford was hanging on every word, occasionally putting in a _hmm_ or a 'yes, yes' to make it sound like he was involved, and when she'd finished he beamed.

'You've done it- that's great, Specs! We'd better start making these changes now! Rangers! Back to my ship immediately!'

But Crawford's crew were prevented from rising and leaving by the sudden clank as the doors burst open. Everyone stared at the hasty latecomer, unsure what exactly to make of their stance or the look on their face.

Crawford was the first to break the silence.

'Commander! Where have you been?' he asked tactlessly, causing several rangers to aim kicks at him under the table. 'Oh, sorry, er, not to say you have been anywhere, in fact…'

Commander Up gave him a strange look and he decided to quite while he was ahead.

'Sir, we've found a way to maximise our speed and reach Bug World earlier,' Specs began, deciding the best course of action would be to get his mind set on the mission ahead and not to discuss his relationship issues, 'see if we increase the…'

'I have to get back to Headquarters,' Up interrupted and everyone froze.

'What?' said Krayonder.

'Look, Up, this is important,' Crawford said, displaying an unprecedented amount of wisdom, and then returning to his tactless state as he continued, 'you can't desert the mission just because you're upset, we need all the…' he paused mid-sentence as Up's face turned thunderous.

'What the hell do all you idiots take me for? I ain't so soft I can't stand a little emotional trauma once in a while,' Up felt, given the circumstances and his past record of dealing with emotional trauma that he was losing credibility here but he persisted nonetheless, 'and I ain't leavin' because o' that! Space-Claw's ordered me to return to earth immediately- somethin's happened down there- and if yer don't believe me, watch the conversation on the black box!'

Crawford shook his head. 'Sorry, I wasn't thinking.'

Up grumbled something indistinct.

'But what about us, man?' Krayonder burst out. 'If you go back to earth, we don't got a Commander anymore! We'll be killed in seconds, dude! Seconds!'

'I guess I'll have to leave…' Up paused, trying to choke out the name without allowing his pain to escape him, '…_Taz…_ in charge. She knows what she's doin', she'll see ya right. Find her. Tell her.' He turned, walking back towards the door. 'And good luck down on Bug World.'

Up pretended he couldn't hear Criss's loud call of '_why don't you tell her yourself?_' as he walked slowly back through the corridors to his quarters. All sorts of terrible thoughts were swimming across his mind, albeit none about the mysterious problem he was about to face back on earth or whatever eccentric plan Space-Claw was concocting now.

None of his thoughts were about the robots the rest of the crew may have to face, even. They were all about Taz.

Taz wouldn't believe he was leaving under Space-Claw's orders, not now. Not after she thought he'd deserted their last battle. She would assume he was doing what he 'always did', ducking out like a coward. She was going to hate him even more for this, so even if he'd dared try and talk to her so soon after their fight and split, he wouldn't have had the courage to spit out an _oh-by-the-way-I'm-leaving-when-you-need-me,-look-after-the-others._ He couldn't bear to see her expression when she heard that, never mind about what cruel physical things she might do to him. Knives and punches didn't matter anymore. Taz's disgust with him was enough to destroy him.

* * *

><p>When Taz made it to the meeting, the five cadets in tow, the two crews were sitting around the table in what could only be described as confusion. No-one was saying a word, everyone was exchanging glances with everyone else, even Krayonder and Criss didn't look as sure of themselves as usual.<p>

'What is dis, a staring competition?' Taz demanded, glaring round the room. 'What happened to de meeting?'

'Uh, well…' Specs began.

'Well I got somet'ing important to discuss anyway,' the Hispanic girl interrupted, gesturing to the sheepish-looking cadets, 'dese _idiotas_ saw fit to stow away on de ship! I need jour permission, _Commander_,' she practically spat the word at Crawford, whom she didn't consider a real commander at all, 'to send dem back to earth in a drop pod before we reach earth.'

She had expected more of a response. She had expected some form of protest from the Little Tazzes, some sign of them fighting back, she had expected Crawford to instantly grant use of the drop pod, she had expected the rest of the crew to be surprised at the turn of events. No-one said anything. It was as if the silence was contagious.

'Well?' she demanded. 'Do dey have jour damn permission or what?' Not that she cared all that much about permission herself, but at this stage she'd say anything to get someone to speak. 'What is going on?'

'It's just everything at once,' Specs started to explain, 'we're increasing the ship's speed to reach Bug World tomorrow instead of on Thursday, and Commander Up being called back to earth by Doctor Space-Claw, and now this…'

'Woah! _¡Espere!_ Go back to dat last one- Up got called back to earth?'

'He's leaving any minute- maybe you should go run after him and kiss him goodbye…' Criss suggested with a smug expression on his face, but everything had stopped in Taz's head and she didn't hear him.

'_¿Por qué?'_ she stammered out. 'Why is he leaving now? We could be up against robots any day now! Why did jou let him leave, jou _hijos de puta?'_

'Something big was going on down on earth,' Crawford shrugged, 'urgent, y'know? And you know what it's like, nobody ignores Space-Claw's orders- he _is _the head of the whole Galactic League, you know…'

Taz was beyond fully paying attention. The revelation that Up was leaving them was all it took for the robots, the stowaways, the impending mission, everything to disappear. She couldn't hear them talking. She couldn't hear herself thinking. All she could sense was herself running, hurtling in the direction of the landing bay, where the drop pods were docked.

* * *

><p>There were only three drop pods in the landing bay, Up discovered on entering, and he wiped his brow in relief. One belonged to Crawford and his crew, one the crew of 15A2 would need to get down to Bug World, leaving one for himself to carry out Space-Claw's ridiculous orders. He hoisted his bag over one shoulder, his zapper over the other and allowed himself one last fleeting glance behind him at the interior of the ship. This, he thought miserably, might be the last time he saw any of them for all he knew- might be the last time he ever saw Taz, and this was how it ended. He shuddered involuntarily and started towards his pod.<p>

'OI!' the shout and the clatter of frantic footsteps stopped him in his tracks, and he turned as Taz came charging towards him, panting heavily. 'Up!'

Up's heart started to pound manically.

She skidded abruptly to a halt less than two feet in front of him and stood, looking at him with an expression Up couldn't describe. He searched her face for traces of anger, of hate or love, but could find none of the above.

As Taz's breathing slowed to normal she straightened her shoulders, she stared and the atmosphere began to tense around them.

'I, uh, got called back to earth,' Up began awkwardly. 'Space-Claw's orders.' He half expected her to start shouting.

'_Sí,_ I know,' she replied, her tone equally stilted. The tension in the air was like a whole third person. Up fiddled with the strap of his bag.

Taz was mentally beating herself up. Why couldn't she just force herself to speak to him?

_I need jou to take de cadets back wid jou, dey stowed away…dat's all jou need to say!_

'So, uh,' Up went on, 'you're in charge. 'Til I get back, that is.' There was another pause and he scratched his ear as he tried to think of something else to say. What _did_ you say to someone who may not love you anymore?

'I know you'll do a good job,' he settled for, 'you can handle it.'

'Sí, I know,' she said again, her eyes not meeting his. Another pause.

'Well…good luck…with everythin'…' he said eventually, shrugging his shoulders and making to move off.

'Up…' the squeak sounded nothing like her normal voice. He turned back, and again she was hit with that wave of not knowing what to say. She'd forgotten about getting the cadets home. She didn't care about that at this moment in time. She just knew there was something she should be saying here, right now, to Up, only she couldn't work out what it was.

'Um…jou too,' she managed at last. Her eyes locked with his. Their fingers brushed, without either of them consciously moving their hands. And then, just as suddenly as this hopeful moment occurred, it had ended, Up mumbling a goodbye and ambling towards his drop pod, Taz turning her face away and walking back towards the door.

The Lieutenant tried to pretend the water gathering in her eye as she walked away was only a result of being tired.

* * *

><p><strong>Heaps of things are coming up. Big things. Loads of plot. That sort of thing. I hope y'all can put up with me and this sort of fail!chapter til then.<strong>


	21. The truth of what happened to Bug World

**Yes, quicker update than usual! I'm going to try and update twice a week now, because this story is so close to the end and I want to get it done before the 22nd, when I shall be giving up fanfiction for Lent. That plus the Valentine oneshot I'm putting up on the 13th or 14th means I have a lot of writing to do (except I've finished that one so I'm just waiting for the opportune moment to post it).**

**Thanks to all the wonderful people who reviewed! I've now passed 100 and have beaten my Umbridge story as story with most reviews. Thanks so much!**

**Anyway, here's chapter twenty-one. And, before I forget, I don't own anything.**

* * *

><p>The general consensus between Starships 15A2 and 17G5 was that things were not going at all well. Taz and what remained of her crew sat slumped around a table, Crawford and his team doing likewise and connected via video call, all of them trying hard to think of a solution to the several problems that had arisen at once. Even Tootsie Megagirl had his face screwed up in concentration, though most of the rangers had money riding on the fact that he was probably just playing a banjo tune over and over in his mind. The first major problem had to do with the presence of the five cadets.<p>

'How did you let this happen?' General Holden had demanded furiously when they had finally managed to contact him about it.

'Ees not like I planned it, _idiota_!' Taz had snapped down the phone, only to be reprimanded both for insulting her superior and for her heavy influence on the trainee rangers. A small shouting match had ensued, ending only after several threats to Taz's position, and they'd turned back to the matter at hand- what was to be done with them. There were now not enough drop pods between her ship and Crawford's to send them back AND get all of them down to Bug World.

'So what are we supposed to do?' Taz shouted. 'If we leave dem aboard de ship de robots could blast it into pieces wid dem inside it- if we take dem dey're gonna be dead meat anyway!'

'May I remind you, Lieutenant, that this is no fault of mine! We have enough to worry about down here as it is!'

Taz's heart skipped a beat, the image of Up's face flickering through her mind. What might he be heading towards facing right now?

'What is de situation down dere, _ese?'_ she asked him. 'What's going on- where's Up? Did he get back yet?' She knew the drop pods had homing devices and could reach G.L.E.E. Headquarters three times faster than anywhere else- for all she knew he could be close, and she couldn't pretend she wasn't concerned about him, even if her stupidity had cost her their relationship.

'Back? Commander Up? Taz, what are you…'

'He was sent back on Space-Claw's orders!' the Lieutenant threw her hands up in the air in frustration, 'to deal wid whatever crisis jou're facing right now…'

'Crisis?' Holden's left eyebrow was rising. 'What cr…' there was a crackling noise and they were cut off, Holden's face disappearing into a blur of lines and snow as though the connection had suddenly and mysteriously failed.

It was on this that Taz was concentrating as they all sat round now- the fact that Holden had seemed oblivious to whatever it was Space-Claw had been talking about. That couldn't be a good sign- and judging by his previous plans, such as the twisted abomination bug egg plan and his dangerous experiments with Up's human and robot sides- the outcome didn't look too good for the Commander. What was he planning to do with him?

What was worse, Taz could do nothing to stop him. She was not only a ranger- and a Lieutenant at that, hence bound by duty to get the job done- she was in charge of a ship. If she left they'd have no-one to command them. Crawford couldn't possibly handle two ships at once- it was dangerous enough leaving him at the helm of one.

'We're almost ready to launch the pods,' Specs said, looking up from the many devices under her nose, 'we need to decide what to do now.'

'We'll come down and fight with you!' Henry said immediately, jumping to his feet and picking up the spare zapper he'd been just given.

A day or so his enthusiasm would have pleased Taz enormously, but now all it reminded her of was that fact that, as an indirect consequence of her row with Up, she couldn't get them to safety. She sighed, her face showing none of her usual aggressive exuberance.

'Jou may have to. It'd be better for jou to try and defend jourselves and die for somet'ing dan to hide up on de ship and get killed for not'ing.'

'Well, that's settled then,' Denise followed Henry's lead, grabbing and loading her own weapon, seemingly oblivious of the fact that this could well mean death for her.

'Jou'll follow my orders _at all times, entender?'_ Taz shot pointed glares at the group of them. 'If I say to do somet'ing, jou do it, if I tell jou to get out of de way, don't try and play de hero, _ese_?'

'Well _I'm_ certainly not going down there to get myself killed,' Reilly muttered, pushing his gun away from him and folding his arms. Taz rounded on him.

'Jou listen to me, jou _cabron,_ jou lil piece of…' Tootsie let out a loud gasp, despite hearing her use the word many times, 'jou were an _idiota,_ jou made a bad decision and now jou must live up de consequences. Jou are training to be a starship ranger, and we rangers get de job done- _o de lo contrario_! I am in charge of dis mission,' instantly her hand flew to her upper lip, though no moustache sat there, 'and if jou do not do as I say, I will unscrew jour head and drop de wishing pennies down jour t'roat- and jou will die wishing jou had obeyed me.'

Her voice had become very low and frightening- more so than any of the cadets had heard before, and even her own crew gasped quite audibly as she went on with her threat.

'Jou got any objections?'

Reilly shook his head.

'_Eso es bueno,'_ the Hispanic girl rubbed her hands together. 'Now, let's get down to Bug World and do our job.'

* * *

><p>The lone ranger was immersed in his training, forcing his body into starjump after starjump in order to make himself fitter for the missions ahead. His grunts of exertion filled the otherwise empty gym, he was so absorbed he didn't notice the scrape of one of the floor's ventilation holes as the grate started to move out of place.<p>

He head the clunking sound from below his feet but ignored it, chalking it up to his dehydrated and exhausted brain playing tricks on him.

When the grate clattered across the floor, however, he was forced to turn around to see the cause of the commotion.

He was a grown man, but he still screamed.

A robot's head poked out of the hole in the floor.

* * *

><p>The drop pods landed within six feet of each other, crashing onto the rocky surface of Bug World far too carelessly for Taz's liking. The hatch lowered; she emerged slowly, zapper held in front of her. The area around her seemed deserted- not a sign of movement- bug, robot or otherwise. She took a tentative step off the ramp and onto the ground.<p>

'Lieutenant, do you read?' Crawford's voice crackled through the device on her wrist. 'All clear on my side- you?'

'_Sí,_ ees all clear.' She allowed herself to straighten and stand up properly. 'Okay, _idiotas_,' she called over her shoulder, 'Come out now!'

She couldn't help feel a tiny surge of excitement as her crew emerged to stand behind her, Crawford's doing likewise to her left. A part of her had always wanted to be the Commander, to be the leader and be allowed to order the others about (and this time she was actually, officially in charge, not like the time she'd staged a mini mutiny and ripped off Up's moustache) but at the same time a large wave of regret swept over her. Up should be here. Up should be doing this. And she should be by his side.

'Right, let's go!' Crawford waved his arm in the air to signal the start of their march, 'we need…aaargh!' Blood was suddenly coursing down his arm from a deep wound, the burn of a laser beam running right from elbow to wrist. Everyone froze. And then…

'Get out de way!' Taz screamed and Crawford ducked to one side as beams flew at them like arrows, a grating _'hu-man pres-ence de-tec-ted_' cutting through the sound of the shots.

Taz raised her zapper and fired off an entire cartridge, listening for the crash as the front line of robots fell before ushering the entire group round the side of the pods.

They were massively outnumbered- at least ten to one, and this new improved model of robot was clearly better equipped when it came to stealth, for an entire army to simply appear in front of them without advanced warning. The beams continued to zing against the side of the drop pods as the two crews huddled together, trying frantically to think of a plan within the next few seconds or so. They didn't have long before the robots would come around this side and then they'd be trapped and as good as dead.

'That one nearly got my _face_!' Criss was raging. The others shushed him ferociously.

'Should we make a run for it?' Crawford conferred with Taz, clutching his injured arm and somehow simultaneously wringing his hat. The Lieutenant glanced over at the barren, mostly flat landscape.

'Where to? Dere's nowhere to go, dey'll gun us down in _dos_ seconds!'

'Hey, guys!' came a small, familiar voice and everyone turned. 'Over here!'

February spotted the source first, letting out a girlish squeal as the familiar, reddish-orange, large-eyed, antennae-d face of Bug appeared from a hole in the ground. 'Down here, quick!' he disappeared back into the hole as quickly as he had appeared. Everyone's eyes fell to Taz, and she felt a surge of annoyance that not a single one of them was going to use their initiative- not even Crawford, who for all official purposes was more qualified than her.

'Well, don't just stand dere, _idiotas!_ Go!' She shoved Kelly and Denise forward, grabbing hold of Brian and Henry and pushing them in afterwards. She called to February to go, snarled at Reilly, shouted at Tootsie, ensuring, as she had been trained, to get those less able to defend themselves to safety first. Taz hung back with those who could fight as more of Crawford's team hurled themselves towards the hole. The sound of laser beams on metal was loud and getting louder still, a sure sign the robots were closer and about to ambush at any second.

'Hurry it up!' she shouted at Specs, who was hesitating at the sight of the sudden drop below her. A beam flew right past her, narrowly missing her ear. They were right behind her. Screeching instructions at Criss she swung round the side of the pod, firing like mad, taking down the closest three metal men in one go. She fired a fourth shot and the robot staggered, hit in the knee, another, higher fire had it collapsing to the ground, raising a cloud of dust and hindering the progress of the next row of robots. Taz took this chance and sprinted for it, charging across the now deserted ground and hurling herself into the hole just as a beam zipped through the air where her head had once been.

* * *

><p>The drop pod was zooming at a tremendous speed- Up knew they had been fitted with homing devices but this was ridiculous- it was as if Doctor Space-Claw had somehow attached a giant magnet to the Headquarters that was pulling him forcefully back. He couldn't bear to stand for more than a few minutes- if he even attempted to look from one of the tiny windows he immediately felt a pressuring nausea at the sight of the stars speeding past so quickly they blurred together into uneven white lines. It had been like this since he'd taken off- all night and most of today and he felt right now that, whatever crisis Space-Claw expected him to face at the end of this hideous journey, he would be less likely to help so much as keel over or spew his guts up.<p>

He'd been so focused on the fact he was feeling ill and dizzy he hadn't had much opportunity to think about Taz. He tried to picture her face now, to force himself, while he had this time, to work out how he was going to make things right with her but his brain felt as though it were spinning in three directions at once and he couldn't concentrate. All he knew was he was determined to do something. She'd come after him when she'd heard he was going and that was enough for him. She may not still love him but a part of her at least cared, and he was going to tell her again that he loved her before the end. She may not return the words but she would know, and he could go on knowing that she knew.

The pod suddenly increased in speed again and Up was flung forwards, his face almost colliding with the thick, many-layered glass of the porthole but his hands reaching it first. He tried to get up, his limbs feeling like the jelly Taz had once planned to fill his belly with, peeling himself off the wall and hazarding a glance through the porthole. An enormous, swirling blue-green orb was getting rapidly closer. He was almost back to earth.

* * *

><p>Taz felt herself falling, bumping against the rocks and dirty ground that made up the uneven walls of the tunnel. She tumbled down the steep descent, holding her hands up to protect her head as several large, sharp stones loomed at her, until the floor suddenly curved upwards and she found herself thrown out into a wider space. Grumbling, Taz lifted her face up off the floor to find herself in a large chamber of Bug World's underground hive, several figures all clustered around her.<p>

'Taz, man, are you okay?'

She groped for the hand offered to her, allowing Krayonder to haul her to her feet.

'_Sí,_ I'm fine…' she dusted herself off as her usual shield of emotionless toughness built itself back up again, 'is everyone here?'

There was a murmur of assent.

'So, what do we do now? We need to come up wid a plan to get dose tin cans back,' she raised her voice, letting the cavern fill with her echoing authority. 'And we need to find out what dey're up to- and stop them.'

'I think it might be too late.'

Bug's statement had them all gasping. Taz turned, shooting him a fierce look that demanded a full explanation.

'I know their plan,' Bug went on, 'and it seems like they're just about finished.'

Another ripple of murmurs went round. Specs was muttering at an unnatural speed about probability of events, February was whimpering about what her poor Bug might mean by that, Tootsie was whining about the fact that his wife had been left aboard the main ship.

Taz took a step closer to Bug, grabbing hold of his sticklike hands. 'Jou _have_ to tell us what's going on. What are dey planning?'

'It's not so much what they're planning,' Bug said softly, his antennae drooping so low they interfered with his shoulders, 'it's what they have planned. What they've already done.'

Taz tried to still the growing fear inside her and urged him to continue.

* * *

><p>The drop pod hurtled into the landing bay so fast Up was thrown across the length of it again. He groaned, rubbing his forehead with one hand and his stomach with the other. Was there <em>really<em> need for an arrival _this_ hasty? What could possibly be so urgent that he needed to…?

The answer stared him in the face as the hatch opened and two glowing red eyes fixed themselves on him. His reaction was instinctual. Nausea forgotten he dropped and rolled, snatching his zapper up from where it had skittered across the floor and driving every last shot left in it through the robot's chest. The metal man's circuits buzzed and fizzed, sparks flew and it fell to pieces with a loud crash. Up's heart was pounding, blood coursing painfully quickly through all his veins, even more painfully through those that were still newly reconstructed. His brain had stopped for a moment, recovering from the shock a lot more slowly than the rest of him.

Another robot attack. This must be why he was here…but why would Space-Claw care? He hadn't been all that interested in helping them out during the last lot of robot wars, when promoted from General to Head of Galactic League he'd invested a lot of money, staff and energy into weird genetic research and left the rangers to fend for themselves.

It just didn't add up.

Finally beginning to think straight, Up hoisted his zapper over his shoulder, stepping out of the pod at a slow, careful pace. No more robots in sight. He did a double-take at a mop and bucket that had been abandoned beside another, half-cleaned pod and nearly raised his gun to a sliding door before he realised, to his relief, that no more robots skulked in the cargo bay. Not that that didn't mean there weren't more about- he would have to be on his guard. With this in mind, he began his cautious journey through the corridors and towards General Holden's office.

* * *

><p>'I got back only a few hours before you guys,' Bug began, his eyes continually darting nervously towards the mouth of a large passage leading from the cavern, 'and they were shooting at me before I even got off the pod. I managed to find the entrance to the hive- thankfully they haven't taken that yet, the colony's still okay, it's just…'<p>

'Why aren't they trying to stop the robots?' Crawford pressed. Taz shot him a withering look.

'With _what?_ If jou haven't noticed, pincers and wings are a fat lot of good against killer robots wid guns!'

'They asked me,' here Bug began to shake a little bit, and February was quick to enfold him in her arms as he continued talking, 'if I could try to, uh, _negotiate _with the robots…' his voice was now almost a squeak, 'being , as I am, the Global Ambassador for Bug World, to find out what they wanted…but I knew after fighting with you all that that…'

'Wouldn't work,' Taz finished for him. Bug nodded.

'Wouldn't work.'

'So what did you do?' Criss was sitting on his haunches, hanging onto every word. Taz turned to glare.

'Dis isn't supposed to be entertainment! Dis is serious!'

'Well, I just sorta snuck up to the edge of their base…you haven't seen it yet, have you? It's _huge! _They have weapons and stuff I hadn't even _heard_ of when I was down on earth…it looks like they're trying to set up something permanent here, and I could see that inside this one tower these really big robots were discussing something…'

Everyone was listening intently now.

'…But I couldn't have gotten in to listen without being noticed.'

'That's where being this size comes in handy!' something buzzed, and the small, winged figure of Roach, Bug's best insect friend, came fluttering down beside them and landed on Taz's shoulder.

'Hey, Buggette-human! How's your fella? Did you tear off his head and let your larva devour his body yet? Is that why he's not here?'

Taz made a furious swat at Roach, who merely laughed, flitting out of reach and settling back down on February's shoulder instead.

'Roach managed to fly through a gap in the wall,' Bug explained, 'he heard everything, and…'

'And I gave the expression 'fly-on-the-wall' a whole new meaning!' crowed Roach jubilantly. 'Of course, being away from the Overqueen for that long was hard, though, the thought that I might never burrow in her orifices again…'

Taz screwed up her face at the mental picture. She was not the only one. 'So what happened with de robots?' she snapped, trying to drag the conversation back round to the shores of relevance and away from the horrible course it had taken.

'The device…the one I said I didn't know what it did…the really big one…' Bug began.

The Hispanic girl mouthed a _get-on-with-it_ at him.

'It can destroy whole planets. It's aimed at the earth.'

A silence swallowed them all whole.

'I don't exactly know what all this means, but they said something about it using satellite waves and this huge dish thing to aim a ray at the earth, and…' he didn't need to finish the sentence that time, everyone had a fairly good idea of what would happen if a ray were aimed at the earth then detonated.

Taz could feel her last meal coming back up her throat. She forced it back down, a part of her wondering absently when she'd last eaten- it wasn't all that recently.

So that was it then. The earth was a sitting target. Any second now it could be blown to smithereens, and then the robots could take control of the galaxy without the threat of humans to stop them…

'We gotta stop dem.' The words were out her mouth before she'd thought them, but they seemed the only ones appropriate for the situation.

'We gotta warn the earth, dude!' Krayonder shouted.

'Jou _loco?_' Taz grabbed his shoulders and shook him. 'Dey can do nothing about it! If dat ray can blow up de entire planet in one go like Bug said it could, then they'll all be dead before they can evacuate de planet!'

'What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do?' Krayonder whined hysterically, causing Taz to slap him.

'They could send more rangers, though…' Reilly said quietly. Everyone turned to stare at him.

Taz was astounded. 'What did jou just say?'

'They could send more rangers,' Reilly shrugged, 'just thought that might be helpful or something, or are we all supposed to kill ourselves trying to get rid of about a billion robots on our own?'

The little flicker of liking Taz was beginning to have for the kid was immediately extinguished by this last snide remark.

'He's right though…' Crawford was pondering, scratching his chin, 'if we warn the earth they can send us reinforcements and get as many people out as possible…'

'That could take _days_! They could've blown the planet to smithereens by then!'

'Well, then, we alert them of it so they can send some, then we start the battle ourselves, keep them away from the weapon for as long as possible. Hold them off. In the meantime, backup heads our way.'

Taz nodded slowly as the logic of the suggestion, and the fact that it was the only plan they had, seeped through into her brain.

'We need to warn the earth!' Criss said, leaping to his feet triumphantly as if it had only just dawned on him.

'Right you are, Lieutenant,' Crawford said.

Krayonder looked affronted. 'Hey! That was _my_ idea!'

* * *

><p>General Holden was having a time of it. Seven random robot sightings had been reported throughout the day, three people had been killed, and the threat of nineteen more of the metal men lurking somewhere within the building had been enough to call an official emergency, to have all rangers stop what they were doing and cancel all missions about to leave, and have everyone alert and ready and armed, waiting to take down the machines as they appeared. He paced his office, issuing order after order from his intercom, answering call after call and giving instructions as to where rangers should be stationed. He himself clutched a large gun in one hand, keeping watch over the control panels and electricity boards that made their home in his office, the ones that allowed access to the entire Headquarters' power and would no doubt be useful to the robots.<p>

_But how did they get in in the first place?_ The last he'd heard, the robots had given up their attack on Farm Planet and all seemed to be congregating around Bug World, and he'd sent several ships after them. He'd heard nothing for months about any robots on earth, and the rangers he had watching each entering ship would have surely noticed a robot pod attempting to breach the earth's atmosphere, wouldn't they?

Holden's office door rattled and he snatched up his rifle, taking aim and clicking off the safety.

'Die, robot bas-' he began, only to come face to face with a familiar grey head of hair, a moustache and a pair of blue eyes. He lowered his weapon.

'Commander Up?'

'What the hell's goin' on round here?' Up demanded, bursting into the office and shutting the door behind him. 'Uh, sir…' he added meekly onto the end.

'I could ask you the same thing, Commander,' Holden retorted, still trying to cover his surprise, 'I thought I sent you down to Bug World!'

'So ya did, General,' Up nodded, 'I'm back on Space-Claw's orders.'

Holden nodded in acknowledgement- the only one who outranked a General was the Head of the Whole Galactic League, and for Space-Claw to take enough of an interest to actually give an order himself instead of leaving the bulk of the work to him meant something was definitely afoot.

'Did he say why?'

Up shook his head. 'Mentioned some crisis yesterday- I assume that's these robots I saw earlier?'

'Mm, the robots,' Holden nodded, and then stopped in his tracks. 'Hang on, last night, did you say? The robots didn't attack 'til this morning.' A mix of horror and confusion settled over the two high-ranking officers.

'Have you seen Space-Claw at all lately?' Up asked, thinking.

'Haven't heard a word from him in ages, I wonder if he's…' whatever Holden wondered, it was cut off, and possibly answered as the mad Doctor's deep, metallic voice rang out through every speaker in the building.

'I, Doctor Space-Claw, due to the current robot infestation, am calling a Red Emergency Number 9812. In order to prevent these robots from breaking free of Headquarters and attacking the surrounding towns and any civilians, I am henceforth initiating a full lockdown- all entries and exits to this building shall be shut and locked. Rangers are advised to stay where they are, and deal with any approaching robots as necessary.' The voice cut off as abruptly as it had begun, and both rangers were left with a sense of dread.

They had trained for them in the past, ever since Up had started at the age of fifteen they had been drilled on them, but never, ever, in twenty-five and a half years had an actual lockdown ever been initiated. They were a last resort- for emergencies so great there was no hope other than to stop whatever dangers were inside the Headquarters from getting out and destroying the rest of the human race.

A handful of robots certainly weren't cause for such a large-scale line of defence- a tactic reserved for such emergencies that only the Head of the League himself could control the locking of the doors from his own office. Holden knew it the instant the announcement had finished and outer doors began to click loudly- Up had been right all along. Space-Claw was up to something. He'd locked them in- stopped them from being able to do anything.

The two of them looked at each other.

A red light flashed on the map of the Headquarters behind them, both General and Commander leapt around to face it in time to see a small blip resembling a pod zooming away from the vicinity of Space-Claw's office.

Holden sat down in his chair, stunned. 'He's locked us in and done a runner…_why?'_

Up didn't have an answer, but he figured whatever the reason, it was definitely nothing to be happy about.

* * *

><p>Space-Claw didn't even look back at the earth as it got smaller and smaller. The instant his computer registered Commander Up's return to earth he'd set up the lockdown.<p>

The last of the starship rangers were trapped in their own base, powerless to do anything to prevent the forthcoming actions of the robots. The rest of them were scattered between Farm Planet and Bug World, and unlikely to be able to take down the army he'd helped put together. Then all he had to do was give the order, the earth would be destroyed for good and he'd lead the robots freely across the galaxy, taking every planet he desired.

And this time, Commander Up would not stand in his way. This time, there was no possible way Up could ruin his plans.

* * *

><p>Holden had his head in his hands. 'What can we possibly do now, Up? I should have trusted you. I should have believed you when you came to me earlier this year with allegations about Doctor Space-Claw. Who knows what he's done now?'<p>

Up wasn't entirely sure what to say, so he said nothing.

'All the time he's been-' the ringing sound of a distress call cut through his lamentations. 'Get that, Commander. Not that there's anything we can do for them now.'

Up leaned forward and pressed the button, an involuntary gasp escaping his mouth as a familiar dark-haired, olive-skinned, red bandanna-ed head filled the screen.

'Taz?'

* * *

><p><strong>We're right into the thick of everything now, Space-Claw's ultimate plot is revealed and all that. Hope it was alright.<strong>


	22. Laugh in the face of danger

**Another relatively quick update. We're right in the thick of things now, though, and I want to keep writing while it's all fresh in my mind. **

**I went to see 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' the other day. Okay, that was really random, but not entirely irrelevant. I can't help thinking every time I read/see that that Salander reminds me rather of Taz, or vice versa. Am I the only one?**

**Anyway, I'm going to stop prattling on now. Thanks once again for your wonderful reviews, I don't own anything, and here is the chapter.**

* * *

><p>Up's face, even though slightly out of focus due to the bad reception, a snowy image on a palm-sized screen, still did something to Taz's knees and she instinctively reached out a hand to steady herself on a nearby rock. She fought to keep her voice even.<p>

'Up?' she had been expecting General Holden to answer- she had expected to be able to make a direct, businesslike call to him in which she could instantly reel off the details of what was going on down here. For a moment the two of them simply stared at each other through their screens, unwilling to break the deep eye contact or utter a single word. This wasn't fair. He should be here, beside her. She should never have blown up at him, because, with what she and the others were about to do, this may well be it, she might never ever have another chance to tell him…

'Lieutenant Taz!' she couldn't help being more than a little disappointed as the moment was broken by General Holden, who had crossed the office and whose face was now beside Up's on screen. 'What's going on?'

'We need backup,' Taz said immediately and fiercely, ignoring the raised eyebrow Holden gave her at her bossy tone of voice. 'Jou need to send everyone jou can down here, so we…'

'I'm afraid we can't do anything of the sort- Space-Claw's put us in lockdown mode. We can't leave HQ.'

A rather nasty butterfly did a backflip in the Hispanic girl's stomach. '_¿Qué_?' she snapped in disbelief. A lockdown was a very last-resort sort of thing, fully under Space-Claw's control…this couldn't be good…

'_¿Por qué_? What'd de _cabron_ go and do dat for?' a sudden realisation hit her, and she voiced it. 'What's going on down dere- what's de crisis Up got sent back f-'

'To be honest with you, Lieutenant, we're not entirely sure what's going on. There are about twenty robots roaming the corridors at random, who knows how they got in…Space-Claw's locked us in and he took off about half an hour ago, left in a drop pod…'

'Jou're saying jou got no way of helping us _at all_?' Taz shrieked in disbelief. 'Jou know what we discovered down here- do jou know what's happened?'

And she proceeded to fill him in on the robot base, the device aimed directly at earth, capable of destroying it within seconds of being fired, the plan, it seemed, the robots had had all along, whilst various other rangers behind her tried to put in their two cents' worth.

'Tell him about our plan, dude,' Krayonder interjected.

'Tell him we're still here,' Kelly insisted.

'Tell the human about _my_ part in the plan,' Roach buzzed, 'my darling Overqueen will be so proud o'me…'

'Tell him about how striking I looked when we were shooting the robots,' Criss puffed out his chest.

'_Callar_, all of jou!' Taz shouted, glaring them all into submission. 'Crawford, Bug, get over here!'

With Bug's assistance they informed Holden of all they had found, and then Taz squared her shoulders.

'We're gonna try to hold dem off,' she said, ignoring Crawford's protest of _hey, I'm the highest ranking officer here, I should be the one to tell him this, '_get to deir control tower and shut dat thing down before dey can blow de earth right out of de sky.' She knew this sounded mighty tough and impressive, but her hands were shaking. She stuffed them into her pockets. 'Dat is, with jour permission.'

Holden looked thoughtful, but Up's eyes widened with horror.

'Taz, no!'

* * *

><p>Up didn't care, the hell with whether or not he sounded soft! From what Taz, Bug and Crawford had just disclosed, there were scores of robots all over the surface of the planet- sleek, improved robots, and even if the just-under-twenty of them fought for as long as they could, there was little chance of them actually working out how to disable the doomsday device. They were as good as gone already.<p>

'Taz, if you do that you're bound to get killed!' he burst out. Holden was staring at him with reproach, Crawford's face, studying him through the screen, was no better. Taz, however, contrary to his expectations, seemed torn.

'Jou were de one who taught me to laugh in de face of danger,' she said softly, 'and to get de job done. I have to.'

Holden was nodding. 'If the robots really do have such a powerful weapon, we're sitting ducks. We could be blown to pieces any second- and it's our duty to protect the earth. The best thing we can do is give them their shot, hold the fort while we try and break this lockdown Space-Claw's got us under.'

'It took us _days_ to reach Bug World!' Up cried, 'by the time we do crack whatever code controls the locks, plus get our forces up there, they'll all be dead- and there'll be no hope!'

'Days from _Farm Planet_, which is in the opposite direction,' Holden said, 'try and think rationally here, Commander. You reached us in less than twenty-four hours with one of the new engines- and it's _the only plan we've got. _Do you realise how serious this is?'

'Taz, as your Commander I order you not to get yourself killed!' his throat felt raw. She'd come close to death so many times now, always fighting her way through, but this time it seemed worse, so much worse. She had to lead half the rangers on her own, she had to fight at least twenty killing machines for every one of her, and he wasn't going to be there to back her up. She could die, and they had left it like this- after a terrible fight, a split and after that, only awkward moments between them. He knew this was important- he knew the entire planet was at stake, millions upon millions of lives, but he just wasn't thinking straight. It was the same overriding emotion that had conquered him when the mosquitos had gone for her- he didn't want to sit there while she went to her death.

His brain disappeared where Taz was concerned.

'Lieutenant, I'm going over Commander Up's head. I order you and Commander Crawford to prepare your rangers immediately for battle,' said Holden, ever the voice of practicality. 'We shall join you as soon as possible. What's your plan so far?'

'Well, we do have de home field advantage- Bug knows dis place better dan anyone- he can help us across de terrain and to find a way in- and he can try to get de bugs on our side…'

'Good,' said Holden. 'Go to it, then.' He gave her a salute, which she returned.

'Taz!' Up cried desperately. This time, it was worse than the mosquitoes. This time he couldn't even rush in to rescue her- he was trapped in an office on a completely different planet. This might be the last time he ever saw her face…

Taz turned her face away from General Holden, her eyes drilling directly into him, and yet she was still not angry, still not reprimanding him for being so stupid.

'Up, if I die…'

Tears started to prick in the Commander's eyes as she said these words.

'If I die…I want jou to know…I still love jou. And I'm sorry…_lo siento_, dat I said dose t'ings to jou…I never meant any of it.'

That broke him. A tear escaped his ducts and another chased it all the way to his chin.

'I love you too, Taz,' he whimpered, 'I love ya too. Always. An' I never meant what I said either.'

Taz blinked and looked away for a second, and when she turned back to face the screen she had pulled herself together, though the whites of her eyes were pink.

'I'll get de job done, General,' she said, saluting again.

'Good luck, Lieutenant,' Holden said.

'_Hasta la vista,'_ she said directly to Up, the screen disappeared into a pinpoint of light and Taz was gone.

* * *

><p>Taz had momentarily forgotten the fact that a dozen or so rangers were watching her as she had this conversation. Her voice cracked as she told Up she still loved him, tears prickled as he told her he loved her too. She quickly hid her face, blinking viciously and forcing herself to calm down, to not cry when there were so many important things to do.<p>

'I'll get de job done, General,' she said, her voice as full of tough confidence as it had ever been, raising her hand to the side of her head in a salute.

Her thumb hovered over the button to disconnect, circling but not pressing it. She wanted a goodbye.

'_Hasta la vista_,' she said, slamming her whole fist on the button before she could allow herself to keep talking and prolonging the end of what might be their last ever conversation.

She drew in a deep lungful of the musty cave air, letting her shoulders rise and fall sharply, and turned to face the rest of the rangers. Everyone was staring at her.

'Damn, they got back together and we're about to die,' Criss said, waving his hand in exasperation. 'They're determined to make us broke! Couldn't they have had this conversation in a safer place, where we could have profited?'

'Aw, _man_, that would've been so awesome!' Krayonder smacked his forehead with his palm.

'We're gonna die in debt, how embarrassing is that?'

Taz hurled the communications device, aiming directly at Criss's face. He ducked, it deflected off the wall and knocked the sniggering Reilly on the back of the head. Taz smirked. She'd missed one _bastardo_ but managed to hit another- it was like losing a nickel down the drain and then finding one again.

'I think that's really sweet, Taz…' February began but one look silenced her.

'Quiet- we have more important t'ings to concentrate on right now!' Taz commanded. 'We have an army of robots to take down. Dose _hijos de puta _had us in a fist of iron for a hundred years- we_ must not let it happen again!'_

She raised her fist in the air and there were shouts of assent from all sides. As afraid as they were of her sometimes, all of them were left in admiration of her strong leadership and determination to take down the enemy. Crawford had given up trying to have his voice as 'the most important ranger here' heard, letting Taz give the orders.

'Bug, jou said earlier jou know all dese tunnels- which one would get us closest to dat robot base?' and before Bug could answer, she went on. 'And I have another job for jou…'

* * *

><p>'I should have thought of something like this…' Holden was saying, pacing his office. 'Space-Claw's deserted us in this time of crisis- he never was one for contributing to the cause- he wouldn't care if we were all blasted to pieces just so long as he survives to continue with his experiments- I'll bet you anything that's why he's left. Save himself, don't bother with anyone else.'<p>

Somehow this didn't sit right with Up. Space-Claw was more heavily involved in this, and he knew it. He wouldn't be surprised if he'd made an allegiance with the robots in order to save his neck- perhaps they'd promised him his life if he stranded the starship rangers and prevented them stopping the attack? The more pressing issue, however, was how they were going to act. Space-Claw's involvement was trivial compared to the barrier they were now up against- how did they undo his lockdown and get out? They had to get to Bug World as quickly as possible- it was a matter of, well, _everything_.

'Here's what I propose,' General Holden said after a while of thinking, pacing and murmuring _no, that's not right…_ 'we will have all our rangers congregate in the cargo bay, where we will load up every fast pod we have. We'll send our technical experts and science officers to the control room and see if they can find an override.'

'That's not good enough!' Up was on his feet, yelling again. 'We can't wait and '_see if we can find_' an override for the lockdown, we need to get a way outta here- right now! He kicked a chair out the way as he made his way to the door. 'And I'm gonna get to Bug World even if I have to take the walls apart with my hands!'

And he'd slammed the office door release and crossed through into the corridor before Holden could stop him.

'Commander Up! Commander! Come back here- and that's an order! You going gallivanting off on your own isn't going to help anyone! Up! I order you to…'

Up ignored the shouts, ignored the order, just kept walking at a brisk, determined pace, putting more and more distance between himself and his superior with every step.

He knew full well he wasn't being practical at all- he was a good Commander and if he waited he'd be extremely useful when it came to leading the rest of the rangers to Bug World- but he just couldn't wait that long. Who knew how long it could take before they found a way to release the cargo bay doors? Provided that they could find a way to do it at all…

That instinct, that driving, killer, all-encompassing _anything for Taz _mentality was the only thing he was running off. Forget logic, strategy, reason. He didn't care about those. Not when she was facing death like this. It was going to be _just_ like the time with the mosquitos, the instinct told him- he hadn't had a plan then either, but he'd saved the girl. There were just more hurdles to get over this time.

All the dormant areas of his subconscious seemed to spring into action as the instinct flooded through his head, and soon every part of his brain seemed devoted to finding a way- any way- out of the Headquarters.

_Space-Claw did it…that was before he locked it, but if he had control, I'll bet you anythin' the controls for the lockdown are somewhere only he knows about…or can access…_

Space-Claw's quarters, mind and body told him at once. It had to be. His huge, penthouse apartment of a living area, right on the end of the building, separated from the rest by several corridors and doors with complicated anti-intruder devices, or so he'd heard, for no-one but he, his wife and his son Junior had ever been allowed anywhere near…

He broke into a run, sprinting up the metal stairs, too impatient to wait for any of the lifts, even if the lockdown _hadn't _put them out of order. Up past where the gyms were, through the rec halls and mess halls, past all the residential halls- Cadets', Ensigns', Science Officers', Lieutenants', Commanders', up another flight of stairs. He had to be getting closer now. Lactic acid started to build, sending a bloody taste up his throat, but he ignored it and kept running. Past the General's quarters on the fifth floor. Up more stairs.

He had to be close now.

A long, carpeted passage stretched in front of him, so lavishly decorated it could only be for the benefit of the Head of the Whole Galactic League. At the end of it sat a heavy-looking set of doors, the enormous pass-key lock visible even at a distance.

Up stood and stared at it for several moments, fingers clenching around the handle of his zapper. He'd expected it to be hard to get in. He'd expected, even, that it may be guarded. But he hadn't banked on this, he thought as panels of the far wall slid away, he hadn't expected it to be guarded like this.

He hadn't expected it to be guarded by robots.

* * *

><p>Bug felt nervous- intensely so- as he stood before the Overqueen, Roach by his side and a proposition on the verge of spilling from his mouth. He was already in trouble- he'd gained that much when he'd arrived and several of the Overqueen's drones had immediately apprehended him and dragged him in here to explain why, as Ambassador, he had allowed such hideous creatures to invade.<p>

The bugs had immediately fallen into the trap of blaming the humans for the current situation, believing, as they often did, that all creatures unlike them were all in cahoots and out to destroy them.

And now Bug was trying to ask for their help on behalf of the Starship Rangers. He'd tried his best. He tried to explain the difference between the humans and the robots, the fact that the humans were their allies, that with the Hive's help they might be able to send the robots back where they came from.

'Roach, back me up!' he cried, exasperated.

Roach's compound eyes were flitting up and down as he drank in the sight of the Overqueen. 'She's so wonderful…she's every bug's dream…'

Bug decided that was a cause not worth taking up. He turned back to the Overqueen.

'_Please_, the humans can help us…'

'Buuug!' the Overqueen said in her booming, overdramatic voice, 'The humans have done enough damage as it is! We can't waste our precious resources, not to mention our liiiiives, on you and your human friends! We need to focus on keeping the Hive safe! The needs of the many bugs outweigh the needs of the few bugs- or the one bug- remeeeeember?'

'But this isn't just about me and the starship rangers!' Bug tried one final time. 'If you help us we can get rid of the robots and then the whole Hive will be saved! You have to believe me!'

The Overqueen deliberated. 'I shall think about it. In the meantime, it would be wise for you to leeeave my chamber, Bug. I may find myself in need of nourishment soon…'

Taking the warning, Bug scuttled back down the tunnel.

* * *

><p>'In-tru-der!' the robot guards bleated as Up approached, zapper at the ready. They raised their hands, the palms of which had dropped away to reveal guns, but Up was quicker, he ducked, firing upwards from his spot on the ground and hitting both of them squarely in the chest. They tumbled to the ground within a second of each other, but more were coming. Up dodged their fire, gunning three down and delivering a forceful kick to the fourth, sending it flying back against the wall. Spotting his chance, Up lunged for the door, firing at the lock in the futile hope that it would break and he would be allowed access. No such luck.<p>

The robot he had kicked was getting to its feet again, all its available weaponry now bared and pointing at Up. Its chest had opened, revealing a deadly-looking harpoon, and the Commander was reminded with a lurch to his stomach of the last time a robot had opened his chest, and he had been sliced hotdog-style in half by a circular buzz saw. Up shuddered, and the harpoon unlatched itself from the robot's chest with a click, sailing through the air right towards his heart. He ducked and it soared overhead, narrowly missing the top of his head. The robot wasn't giving up this easily. With another click, the rope the harpoon was attached to began to wind back up at a dizzying speed, bringing the sharp hook back to be launched again.

Up squeezed the trigger on his zapper, but to his dismay it made a sputtering noise and refused to fire. He was out of fuel. He frantically fumbled in the compartments of his utility belt for another cartridge but the robot had already fired. The harpoon whistled through the air and he threw himself to the ground.

A spine-chilling scraping noise filled the air- the hook had become embedded in the wall opposite, the robot, now tethered, was flailing, trying to free itself. Its arms swivelled round, firing wildly at Up, who danced across the corridor trying to avoid the jets of red light.

This was proving more difficult than he'd thought- he'd fought off five mad killer robots, he had another mad killer robot still trying to attack him and he was still no closer to getting into Space-Claw's office. Another robot emerged from the sliding panel on the wall and Up spied an opportunity, throwing his zapper with all he had, so that it collided with the opening just as the panel slid shut, trapping it there and leaving a small gap. Up smirked at his small triumph- until he realised he was now without a weapon, with not one but two robots on his case.

The first was still jerking wildly about, trying to dislodge the harpoon. Though its face was focused squarely on this task, its arms were pointed in Up's direction, firing for all it was worth.

The Commander's adrenaline-filled brain was working at top speed. The restrained robot couldn't see him, it just kept blindly firing in his general direction- if he could just get the other one to come a bit closer, right into the line of fire…

'Hey! Tin can!' he lunged forward, jabbing the second robot with his foot and scrambling away as it turned, clomping towards him.

'Pathetic hu-man,' it droned, towering over Up, who sat very still, and very low, in the pretence that he had tripped and was cowering, 'prepare to be…'

But Up never heard what he should prepare to be. One of the tethered robot's shots hit his pursuer in the side of the head, causing its head to explode and shower shrapnel across the room. Up shielded his face, crawling toward the doorway. His zapper shuddered as the sliding door pushed against it, trying to crush it out the way and connect with the wall.

He braced himself, slipping his hands through the gap and carefully wrapping them around the gun, knowing if he didn't do this right he could lose all his fingers. He took a deep breath, steeled himself and shoved the zapper through the doorway, pushing against the moving panel with all his might and forcing himself through the larger opening he created before it snapped shut again.

Up slumped back against it, permitting himself a few moments to catch his breath and refill his now slightly mutilated zapper. Well, Taz certainly couldn't say he was soft now- he'd just used some incredibly clever tactics to get past a horde of robots and successfully broken into Space-Claw's quarters via the robot entrance.

He was sure of two things now. First, judging by the attack he'd had to fend off, Space-Claw was definitely in cahoots with the robots. Second, he was on his way to finding a way out of the lockdown, busting out of here and going after Taz.

Only problem was, he thought, surveying the enormous quarters that lay before him and the liberal number of whirring machines scattered throughout, where did he start?

* * *

><p><strong>Er. Yes. We're getting close now, folks. Stay tuned.<strong>


	23. Anything for her

**Here beeth chapter the twenty-third. Hope it's satisfactory. I own nothing. We're getting close, dear friends.**

* * *

><p>Taz was pacing the breadth of the underground cavern, her breath unsteady and uneven, a sign of her impatience. Until the rangers were ready they couldn't act, and until they acted the robots were out there, unhindered in their plans to destroy the earth.<p>

'Hurry it up, _idiotas!_' she snapped at the rangers, seemingly deliberately taking their time to charge up and load their guns, 'we gonna start dis t'ing or what?'

It already didn't seem to be going well. Bug had returned without any support from his people, who seemed to be more interested in hiding away and doing what they had always done rather than assisting in any way. They had already postponed their attack for a couple of hours while he spoke to the Overqueen, with the result that Taz was practically bouncing from foot to foot with the thought that the robots might already be ready to blow up the earth for all they knew. She wouldn't be able to rest until they were out there stopping all this- not that she would have any time for resting with a battle going on. They had no time to waste, and they still seemed to be wasting time.

'Dat's it!' Taz called out as she heard the last zapper click. She wasn't going to give them any more leeway for stalling. 'We're going now! Get into jour positions!'

Their plan was simple enough- whether it worked, however, remained to be seen. One group of them would act as decoys- distract the robots, make them think a battle was about to be waged as far away from their ship as possible, thus luring them away from the controls to the doomsday device. The other group, of which Taz was a part, would have the far more task of infiltrating the ship, finding the controls and then working out how to deactivate them for good- not to mention fighting off whatever robots were left behind, for they all doubted that there wouldn't be at least one or two left inside just in case. And all of it depended on whether the robots actually fell for the distraction- if they didn't, they would just have to fight their way to the ship.

There were so many risks involved, so many what-ifs, and most of the rangers had accepted there was at least an eighty per cent chance they were all going to die. Taz glanced over at the 'Little Tazzes', who stood behind her trying to look brave, a pang of regret sweeping over her that, influenced by her, they now found themselves facing death at such a young age. She wished there was still a way of sending them back, getting them out of harm's way- she'd grown fond of many people, seen many friends get killed over the years, it was just that they were so _young…_

To her left, Krayonder and Specs had cast all inhibitions to the wind, arms tightly round each other as they kissed, all around her rangers were saying their goodbyes, hugging comrades, declaring their love for secret crushes. Bug and February were making out as though nobody could see, and the people around them were trying to turn their faces away to avoid seeing mouth collide with pincers. Tootsie was calling Megagirl via a comms device, telling her in a loud voice how beautiful and shiny she was. Even Lieutenant Criss preened his hair a little bit before shooting a smile at Ensign Klaine.

Taz stole one more look at the cadets- Henry was shyly pressing a kiss to Kelly's cheek and their resemblance to her and Up hit her again like a ton of bricks. She wished he was here beside her, that their final farewell had not been through a video screen. At least he knew she loved him- and he still loved her, and she could carry that with her through whatever happened today.

'Okay, _idiotas_,' she said again, 'enough of dat! We got a job to do- and we're doing it now! Go to it!' And without a further look at anyone she made her way towards the right-hand tunnel, the rest of the rangers dividing between her and Crawford, ready to face whatever lay ahead.

* * *

><p>Up could find nothing. There were so many different computers all through Space-Claw's rooms, and none of them seemed to hold any significance to his role in the new robot war or to his control over the lockdown system. He inspected each device thoroughly, ruling out those which related only to Doctor Space-Claw's wacky experiments by shooting a beam right through them and leaving a smoking hole.<p>

He was beyond caring about what might become of his job if anyone discovered this- he didn't want to work for someone like Space-Claw anyway, not when he was abusing his power over the Galactic League to gain control over a bigger army. He'd been through three studies, two offices…_sheesh, how many rooms does he need anyway_… without any luck, but thankfully no signs of any more robots, when he noticed a large wooden door standing slightly ajar. Based on the layout of the entire quarters, this seemed to lead to Space-Claw's personal, non-business-related rooms- his bedroom, bathroom, sitting room- the sort of rooms that would be closed off should anyone be summoned to visit him for any reason- the sort of rooms only he and his family would see.

It began to dawn on him, the triumphant yet horrible realisation- everything he wished to keep away from the other members of the G.L.E.E. would be behind that door, in the rooms that, in the unlikely event that the General or one of the Commanders were allowed in to discuss some issue or other, would never be available to the public. The only people who would be able to see these things would be Space-Claw, his wife and his son. And didn't it fit that everyone who could possibly have discovered his plans had mysteriously met their end? Junior's death had been the bugs' doing, but the Head of the Galactic League had been oddly uncaring and unemotional towards this, as though the insects had done him a favour.

His first wife had died shortly after they left for Bug World the first time; his second had met her end just a few days previously. Up would be willing to bet his life-savings to Criss that they had been allowed to die in order to ensure none of his plans were accidentally made public.

Up hoisted his zapper higher, taking two tentative steps towards the door that separated the two halves of Space-Claw's quarters. If something important was hidden in there, chances were there'd be more robots to keep intruders at bay. Keeping one finger on the trigger, he reached out his left hand and slowly pushed the door open.

He was now facing a long corridor, from which rooms split off on either side, leading out to a large open-plan living area and balcony. Even searching in _here_ could take one hell of a long time. He opened the first door on his left and the sickly smell of marijuana overpowered him.

_Well, that must have been Junior's room, once upon a time_, Up thought ruefully, shutting the door quickly and continuing on. The next room held a large collection of makeup and frilly pink things clearly belonging to Space-Claw's second wife, and the Commander spent none of his precious time bothering with it.

He was getting impatient- every second he was here doing this Taz was out there fighting for her life and the lives of everyone on earth. He abandoned his systematic pursuit, rushing straight to the room at the end of the passage and inhaling sharply as he beheld its contents.

Space-Claw had clearly been in a rush to get out of the Headquarters- the large, touch-screen operated computer had been left unlocked and logged on, several windows open and clearly visible. A couple of prototype robot heads lay on a desk facing the window, several pairs of robot hands hung from another wall, and strewn across the coffee table were blueprints for (Up suppressed several shudders of fear as he remembered his last encounter with one) transformer-style autobots.

How long had Space-Claw been involved with the robots? He'd considered a recent allegiance in order to secure the Doctor's place among them and thus keep his life whilst the other humans died, but now the full extent of the thing was becoming clear to Up. Space-Claw had been involved with the robots for a long time- longer than any of them had thought. Perhaps even since the last robot war- and he had been leading the G.L.E.E all this time, above suspicion by being in such a high position that no-one would dare consider…

His eyes continued to scan the room, alighting on the far wall, which, rather than maintaining its disguise as a wall, had opened right up to reveal an open landing bay big enough for two drop pods, one of which was missing.

_So that's how he got out…_and that was how Up could get out, get back to Taz. His heart did a couple of somersaults, and he had to restrain himself from leaping right into the pod and taking off. He still had a duty to the League- well, to the law-abiding, robot-fighting members of the League, and to earth, to get rid of this lockdown. He reluctantly turned his attentions to Space-Claw's computer. A stylus lay beside it but he ignored it, flicking through the touch screen with his fingers. The first open window revealed a long list of planets, of which _Farm Planet_ and one or two other names he didn't recognise had had lines drawn through them. The name _Bug World_, however, had been circled, confirming Up's worst suspicions. Space-Claw had been fully aware of the plans to destroy earth.

He flicked the screens over, his heart pounding as he read the next window.

_Lockdown Procedure_, read the header. A large red timer glared out from the screen, numbers representing hours and minutes rolling upwards, indicating the amount of time the lockdown had been in effect. Up jabbed it ferociously with his finger in the hope it would deactivate and the doors would open. Nothing.

He scrolled down the screen, searching for something to assist him, maybe a nice big button saying 'deactivate' would be good…there wasn't one. He jabbed the button again to no avail, and then attacked the screen, touching any and every word, logo or button he found in the hope that something would work.  
>He wasn't sure what did it, whether it was a combination of two things or more or whether he just happened to stumble across it, but all at once a pop-up appeared, bearing the words <em>Deactivation requires authorisation.<em> _Please enter the 12-digit access code._

Up growled aloud and slammed his head down on the desk. Trying to crack a secure passcode could take _days_- he had no chance of getting to Taz in time if he just sat around guessing every possible combination of numbers.

He couldn't wait any longer. He couldn't hang around. Someone else would have to do it.

He snatched up his communications device and rang Holden.

'Space-Claw's quarters,' he gasped into the phone as soon as he heard the General's voice, not waiting to be asked, 'in his private rooms, the room at the end of the passage, there's a computer- you can deactivate the lockdown from there but you'll need someone to crack the passcode.' And he disconnected as quickly as he'd rung, he didn't have time for explanations or niceties. There were plenty of League employees whom General could recruit to crack the code- he'd seen Specs do something similar once or twice before, and there were several officers who matched or beat her level of logic and intelligence. Personally, he couldn't wait around to find out who did it. He just needed to go, and ironically, Space-Claw himself had provided him with a way out.

Up clambered into the spare pod, astounded and pleased to see that Space-Claw's excessive luxuries extended to his transport as well- he'd never seen such a state of the art ship, or one that could travel up to speeds such as these.

As smile spread across his face, a mix of determination, triumph and a degree of anxiety. He was on his way to Taz- at last. He just hoped he'd get there in time.

Up was still wearing the strange smile as he started the pod up and took off into the sky.

* * *

><p>They had been climbing steadily through the tunnels for hours. Taz hadn't planned on this- the steepness with which the bugs built their passages had made their descent to the hive rapid, but without the added advantage of wings, claws or sharp tendrils to dig into the dirt walls, the rangers were finding it incredibly difficult to get back towards the surface of the planet. Taz reeled off a few curses as she jabbed at the wall in front of her with her knife, nicking a chunk of dirt out and sticking her foot into the hole she'd made. She hadn't remembered it being this difficult the last time they'd come to Bug World- but then again, last time they'd been able to use a lot more technology and the wider passages to get down to the Hive and find February. This time they had to be discreet, take the narrower, steeper passages that led them to their desired strategic spots, and without the robots noticing.<p>

Her communications device crackled. 'In place,' Crawford's voice came through it, 'just awaiting your signal.'

Taz swore, the annoyance at Commander Crawford getting the easier path and reaching his target before her filling her up. It seemed like by the time her lot got through they'd all be too bruised, and exhausted to manage much. At least one good thing would come out of this climb, she thought as she looked down at her white tank top, now almost completely ochre-coloured all the way round, they'd be so filthy when they got to the top they could probably camouflage against the ground and the rocks.

'Is gonna be a while yet,' she grumbled into the device, 'get jour breath back, _idiota_.' She slammed it shut and pushed herself further up the shaft.

'Careful, that's my head!' came an angry yelp that sounded rather like Reilly as her foot slipped. She regained her balance, making sure to flail her foot downwards and catch the top of his head a few more times before sinking it into one of the footholds she'd created and heaving herself a little closer to the distant patch of light at the top of the tunnel.

Up couldn't have said in any honesty he didn't feel nauseous again, perhaps even more than before, as Space-Claw's pod shot through the stars, bearing him in it. This speed made one star indistinguishable from the next, they all blurred into one and the autopilot wheeled him around, making jerky turns as it navigated its way across the galaxy. He didn't know how long it would take this time- it had been at least eighteen hours getting back to earth, but this was a far more refined design of pod. However long it took would be long enough, though. He just hoped the rangers down on Bug World could hold out that long. Hoped Taz could hold out that long. He squinted at his watch, trying to read the numbers as they blurred together and apart in his jarred vision. It had been at least four hours since he'd set out now and Bug World wasn't looming any closer yet. There wasn't much more he could do, though, other than choke down some of the pod's supplies to get his strength up, trying not to be sick, and then just sitting there, hoping, waiting.

Taz pondered, as she hoisted herself up further, shoulders trembling from the effort as her energy gave way, the fact that she couldn't place the last time she'd eaten or slept. She hadn't gone this long without since the proper robot wars, when she'd had to run on whatever waning energy she'd had for days at a stretch. It was a wonder what adrenaline could do for you, she thought. She knew as soon as she saw a robot she'd be kicked into full alertness, her exhaustion prolonged until later, and she was counting on this to get her through her task. The temptation to shut her eyes was too large; she had to struggle to fight it. It might be nice to just close them, let herself slip into sleep, let go of the ledge she was gripping onto so tightly…

A clunking noise from somewhere above her snapped her out of it. The fact that the robotic sounds were starting to reach her ears was a sure sign they were nearing the top, they were getting closer to their goal, and with a little renewed burst of energy she started her climb again.

The light above her became brighter, the way out of the tunnel more visible and she scrambled to reach it. It would have been such a personal victory to burst forth out of the hole and feel the air on her skin but Taz exercised every ounce of her willpower to keep herself just inside, just out of the range of visibility for anyone looking across the surface of the planet. She reached for her communicator.

'Reached de top,' she murmured into it, ignoring Crawford's scandalised '_about time.'_ 'Just checking to see if de coast is clear.' Very slowly, very carefully, she raised her head and emerged above ground.

The ship towered before her several yards away, the mechanical tromping of the robots hitting her ears like an alarm. A couple of feet in front of her lay a large rock, obscuring her from view from the large group of robots that stood between her and her way into the ship. Grateful for the cover, Taz pulled herself completely out from the tunnel and inched toward it, hissing at the others to stay where they were for the time being.

'Clear,' she affirmed. 'We're in position. Jou go now!'

* * *

><p>Commander Crawford was never one for taking orders from his subordinates, (although he loved to grovel to his superiors in the hope of a promotion), however when Taz gave him the instruction to go he sprang into action, leaping to his feet and bringing his small group of rangers with him.<p>

'Hey!' he shouted, waving his arms above his head, attracting the attention of what appeared to be the leader of the nearest group of robots. 'Over here!' He fired off a careless shot and the whole lot of metal men turned as one, raising their weapons.

'This is it, men,' he said to his team.

'Let's go die in style!' cried Criss, stylishly twirling his gun, for once actually focused on his task and not himself.

The robots opened fire the same instant they did.

* * *

><p>Taz waited, quietly urging a few rangers at a time to inch their way out of the hole and join her. A large number of the tin cans were already starting to make their way around the other side of their ship, weapons raised, and Taz just hoped there weren't still more and more teeming about the inside. Her heart started to do a mile a minute, the adrenaline already beginning to kick in.<p>

Another row of robots trooped off in formation, leaving a round dozen standing in the doorway and perhaps a score standing around, as though waiting for something. This seemed as good a time as any.

'Now!' Taz roared, springing to her feet and charging forwards with renewed vigour and speed, the others following in her wake.

She'd gunned two down before the robots had fully registered their presence and was streaking towards the ship with a single-minded determination. It was the others' job to fend off the metal _hijos de puta_ around them; her sole ambition was to get through the ship and personally tear apart the controls to their earth-destroying device before they could fire it.

There was a scream from behind her as a laser beam tore through February's arm. Taz turned and blasted the perpetrator to kingdom come, shouting over her shoulder at the schience officer to ignore the wound and keep fighting. She couldn't stop to help- she had to get to those controls no matter what…

The number of rangers behind her continued to dwindle as the others ran into trouble and had to save themselves. She hadn't yet heard the telltale thud of a human body hitting the floor, but as they'd neared the entry to the ship Specs had separated from them to deal with a group of three Megaman units, Krayonder deserting them to help her ward them off. Another few steps and Tootsie was tearing after a robot that had tried to hit him, three more and Bug had hurtled back in February's direction to assist her.

A robot stepped right into Taz's path, she slammed her zapper into it as hard as she could and heaved it out the way with a side-kick. Brian and Denise immediately converged on it, shooting and clubbing it with their zappers and Taz forced herself to keep going, not to look back. Only Henry, Kelly and Reilly remained with her now, and the way into the ship was so close now…

The two robots still stationed in the doorway were firing beams so quickly they could have been holding machine guns, the shots zooming forwards in straight lines. Taz ducked under them. The robots were quicker, instantly angling their guns downwards. The Lieutenant shrieked as one beam hit her just below her shoulder blade. She reared her zapper upwards, blindly firing as she ducked between the robot's legs and emerged inside a dark corridor.

It was only now her mad dash was over that Taz realised how difficult her task still was. The ship was _huge_- and not only did she have to deactivate the robots' weapon, she had to _find_ it as well. A crash from behind her signified the robots' fall to the ground and then the three cadets were around her, weapons raised.

'Jou _idiotas_ okay?' Taz asked. Three heads nodded.

'_Bueno-_ now come on. We got a control panel to find!'

* * *

><p>The battle outside was wearing on. Exhausted, many of them injured, (though thankfully none of them were dead yet) the starship rangers poured their guts into the fight, shooting down robots left right and centre, reloading their zappers with a speedy determination. It had been going on for hours now. As soon as the robots had realised they'd been duped, and that the entry to their ship was under attack they'd all doubled back, leaving Crawford and his team to go after them, and now all the rangers were grouped together, fighting a considerably larger number of robots. Criss was in a good mood considering they were in the heat of battle, bragging to Krayonder about the number of robots he'd killed, trying to coax him into a competition to see who could take down more.<p>

The seriousness of the situation, however, was not lost on any of them. They all knew their mission was to buy Taz some time, keep holding out until she could get to the controls and deactivate the weapon. Everyone was trying their utmost- February, although injured in the arm and with hair mussed and tangled, was still shooting, neglecting even to mention the fact that her weapon was like a hairdryer for once.

It seemed pointless, tiresome work- every second brought them close to death, for every robot they gunned down another took its place.

Denise and Brian, the two recruits, were performing extremely well under pressure, considering they had never had much cause to use a zapper before- and truthfully during the fully-fledged robot wars rangers had been called up with less experience than they had now. However, the effort of continually fighting was wearing them all down, whilst each line of robots they faced came out fresh and without the human hindrance of exhaustion.

Something had to give- Crawford wasn't sure any of them could hold out any longer…

A whooshing noise brought everything to a halt. The rangers paused for only a second, knowing that the robots were less easily distracted and would most likely take advantage of their curiosity.

But the robots weren't ignoring the noise- in fact, they had all stopped, heads raised skywards. Krayonder raised his gun.

'Careful,' Specs warned him, 'this might be a trick…'

'The Controller,' the robots bleated as one, as a silvery drop pod streaked past all their heads and the top of the robot ship opened to accommodate it. 'The Controller approaches.'

In an instant, half the robots had swarmed back towards the ship, the other half turning and resuming their attack.

The starship rangers resumed fighting with even more vigour, trying their utmost now to avoid the more frenzied fire of the few robots still going for them. If they could get past those, they could try and stop the ones trying to get to the ship, where Taz was…

They fought solidly for another hour or so, each of them forcing themselves through the pain and fatigue barrier, forcing themselves to think of the far more important task Taz and the three cadets with her were trying to carry out.

None of them liked the sound of this Controller- it sounded like whatever the robots were waiting for to detonate the weapon, this was it.

They fought on, determined to win.

The arrival of the second drop pod had them all looking up in surprise.

* * *

><p>Taz was running out of refills for her zapper, and the pain in her shoulder was intensifying. She was pretty sure the robot's beam hadn't cut through her skin- there was no tell-tale trickle of blood down her back, but it had left, at best, a very nasty burn or graze of the kind that chafed every time she moved her arm. She wasn't entirely sure it wouldn't rupture, give or take a few jerky movements. She and the three cadets kept low, creeping from room to room of the ship, eyes peeled for anything that might yield access to the device, but so far their search had absorbed hours, energy and firepower and they had come no closer.<p>

'_Controller docking_…'

The words had all four of them jumping. The ship rumbled as something landed a few floors above them and at once robots began teeming from all sides, swarming in the direction of the arrival. Taz swallowed and felt an unpleasant sensation in the pit of her stomach. The appearance of this Controller couldn't be a good thing- sounded just like the sort of thing the robots might have been waiting for- waiting for their leader to give the go-ahead to put their plan into action…

Behind her the others seemed to have had the same thought.

'We gotta follow dose _robotas_,' Taz announced at the same time the realisation hit her. 'If de controls are anywhere, it's where dey're goin'.'

'Why don't we just throw down our weapons and ask 'em to shoot us?' Reilly grumbled.

Taz let out a very threatening growl. 'Why don' I just leave jou to fend for jourself- see how jou'd last den?'

Reilly shut up.

'Come on,' Taz muttered. They inched towards the corner of the passage, staying low whilst the robots trooped past in twos. 'We're gonna have to be _muy tranquilo- _dere are too many of dem to take on if dey find us.'

'Mu what?' Reilly demanded.

'_Quiet!_' Taz hissed, the desire to hit him becoming very strong indeed. The last two robots passed and she got to her feet, frantically signalling them to follow suit and keep their mouths shut.

Keeping this close to an enormous pack of robots was terrifying work- Taz's heart was pounding, not in her chest, it seemed, but it felt as though it had worked its way all the way up to the back of her throat at the possibility that at any second one of them could turn around, spot them before they'd located the controls and then a hundred or so metal men would open fire on them and there'd be no hope of survival.

They walked quietly, steadily up a spiral of metal stairs, being sure to keep down and keep a little distance to ensure none of the tin cans looked down from above and spotted them. Every so often she'd stop, to wait, to ensure they weren't too close, and one occasion she glanced round to see Henry and Kelly's fingers lightly linked. It sent a prickle to the corner of her eyes.

The robots began to slip from their two-by-two lines into a greater mass, all swarming towards an elevator to the top floor and taking it in groups of about ten. And down the corridor, a little to the left, was-

'A control room!' Kelly breathed.

'Shhh!' Taz hissed, furtively glancing at the robots. They were all still facing the opposite direction, but they were now waiting, and without the loud clank of their footsteps they were more likely to hear the passing of three humans.

They'd have to be quick. This was it, it seemed. They'd have a minute at most- and then the robots would undoubtedly find them. If she could just get the controls irreparably destroyed before they discovered her, then the human race would still have a chance- the other rangers could come up and finish them off. It was a weird thought- she'd faced it before, this thought, but every time it hit her it still felt weird. _I am going to die._ Every time had seemed like the real thing, and every time she had been rescued just narrowly, but this time seemed different- more final. _I am actually going to die._

She waited for just a second. The elevator doors opened, making just enough noise that a quick murmur of 'now!' and a dash for the control room were permitted.

They sprinted for it. The room was huge and circular, a large window spanning two thirds of the room, giving a good view of the long point on the end of a doomsday device.

'Dis don't take _un genio_ to figure out,' Taz said, turning to the other three. 'If we can see de end of dat weapon, den one of de levers must position it. Find it and we'll find de way to deactivate it.'

They split up, twiddling knobs, pressing buttons, twisting levers. Taz lunged for a promising-looking lever, pulling it downwards as she gazed out the window. The needle-like end of the device angled downwards a little bit. An awed smile broke out across her face. She pushed the lever towards the left and the point moved sideways a little. Her heart leapt.

_I've_ _found it…_she thought in wonder. She gazed down at the controls around the lever- a large red button with the word _detonate_ spoke for itself- she had to be careful to avoid that.

'_Oi,' _she alerted the cadets. 'Over here!' Henry and Kelly were at her side in an instant, helping her pry the top off the control panel to reveal the wires beneath. A tangle of cables streamed beneath their fingertips and Taz swore under her breath- it had occurred to none of them to bring wirecutters, as they had had no idea what had awaited them on Bug World. The only thing that could come close to cutting through them was…

Taz traced the sharp outline of her knife with her index finger, mulling the possibility over. All she had to do was make a slice and the weapon would cease to be a threat- but, as conceivably everyone in the universe had learned from childhood, metal was a great conductor of electricity. If she did this, she was sure to be electrocuted. But what was the alternative? Someone had to do it, she was going to be killed by the robots anyway; surely it would be better to have this happen to her, take the worst of it? She couldn't wish that sort of death on the kids- if they had to die, it would be better if it was quicker…

She flicked open the knife with a trembling hand, sliding it under the wires and beginning to push upward…

_BEEPBEEPBEEP_

The sound of the alarm caused her to drop the knife with a clatter. A red light flashed above them, the words _intruder alert_ ringing out loudly again and again. Reilly jumped back from a large button in fright.

'Jou _hijo de puta!_ What did jou do?' Taz screeched.

'Well I didn't know what that button was gonna do!' Reilly protested.

Taz frantically fumbled inside the control panel for her knife- any second now the robots would be bursting in; she had to get these wires cut before they could stop her…

'Halt!' Too late. The mechanical voice was accompanied by a mechanical man. They'd been spotted.

'Fire!' Taz shrieked, resuming her search for the knife with one hand while fumbling for her zapper with the other. She could only hold the robots off now, hold them off long enough for her to cut the wire…

'Kill them all,' came a second robot voice. A shot whizzed past her ear and her other hand instinctively flew to her gun, using all of herself to shoot the robot back. _No, Taz, concentrate on de wires, cut dem now!_

She shoved her hand back into the control panel, her fingers brushing against the blade of her knife…

A robot's arm shot out, extending to twice its size, making to grab Henry around the neck.

'_No_!' Taz forgot her determination to focus on nothing but the wires for a second time, leaping across the room and knocking the boy out the way. There wasn't enough time to think of the consequences- the fact that they were all four of them going to die anyway so what was the point in trying to save him for a few more seconds. She just didn't think, and her momentary lapse of concentration resulted in the robot grabbing her neck instead of his. Taz felt the walls of her throat crush together as it lifted her off the ground. It squeezed and she spluttered, feeling the blood trapped in her head, feeling the consciousness leave her.

And then a voice rang across the room, a voice so achingly familiar Taz wondered if she was imagining it, hallucinating, maybe dying…

'Hey! Get your hands off my girl!'

Commander Up was standing in the doorway.

* * *

><p><strong>I know Up's arrival seemed rather...well, lucky, but that shall be enlightened upon further in the next chapter, which should be coming soon. <strong>


	24. The revelation of Doctor SpaceClaw

**In advance, please forgive this chapter if it seems, I don't know, a bit strange. I'd always planned it this way, it's just now I've actually written it the idea doesn't sit as well as it did in my mind.**

**I know I keep saying this, but we're extremely close now. I'm thinking one or two chapters, three at the very most and this story may be done (although I have thought that before, and it's become a lot longer than I originally planned- it was only meant to be about 15 chapters).**

**Anyway, enjoy if you can. I own nothing.**

* * *

><p>Taz struggled against her fading consciousness, forcing her eyes to keep open and focus on Up. It really was him, he really, truly was there- blue eyes, moustache, the scar across his left eye that she'd given him long ago, that look of determination she knew so well. She tried to choke out his name, but the robot's vice-like grip around her throat made it impossible for more than a splutter to escape.<p>

The robot's head turned slowly, winding three hundred and sixty degrees to glower at Up.

'Pathetic hu-mans,' it croaked, 'so obsessed with poss-ess-ion and e-motion…' its hand tightened around her neck and a retching noise escaped her throat.

The resounding shot tore through the room, blasting the robot's head into smithereens, sending bits of shrapnel in all directions. The headless machine teetered on its feet, falling forwards with a crash and bringing Taz down with it. She struggled beneath its arm, clutching at its hand and trying to free herself. In an instant Up was across the room, heaving its body off her and yanking at the fingers still holding her throat. A growl escaped his lips as he yanked at the metal claws, prising them one by one off of her with such impressive strength that they snapped out of their sockets. Taz gasped, allowing lungfuls of air through, hardly able to believe the fact that she was alive, much less the fact she was alive _because Up was here._ A pair of strong hands grabbed hold of her, pulling her up and she staggered to her feet, still catching her breath.

'Up…' she managed to pant out, her eyes locking with his blue orbs. 'Jou…jou're here…how…'

Up opened his mouth to say something- perhaps to explain, perhaps to affirm his love for her, but at that moment the _pew_ sound of several dozen zapper beams caused both of them to jump apart and duck, hastily raising their guns to fire back at the four new robots that had appeared in the doorway. Henry was back on his feet, reloading his zapper and all five of them dived straight into the next round of battle, sending one, then two robots to the ground…

These ones seemed stronger than the average drones, though, more powerful than the hundreds that covered the surface of Bug World- it was like the best had been saved for them. They kept advancing, several shots bouncing off them, others only stopping them for a few seconds, and as one of them closed in on her and Up she remembered her mission.

'De wires!' Taz screamed, leaping across the room to the control panel and snatching up her knife. 'I gotta-'

A robot's arm came swinging forwards like the boom of a ship, thumping her in her stomach, knocking the breath out of her for the second time in succession and sending her flying back across the control room. Her back connected sharply with the metal of the wall, in her shock her fingers loosened around the hilt of the knife and it went skittering across the floor.

'Taz!' Up was at her side in seconds, one arm under her shoulders, lifting her up, the other still firing at the robot.

'I gotta get to de…' Taz made a lunge for the knife and Up dragged her back as a gunshot zipped through the air and hit the spot where she'd been just a second ago.

'Let go, _idiota!' _she shouted.

'Taz, you gotta be more careful!' Up shouted back, filling a robot's guts with laser beams and hauling her out the way as it crashed to the ground. 'These robots ain't here fer decoration- they're _tryin' to kill you!'_

'_Esúchame_, Up! If I don' cut dose wires, den as soon as de robots get to de controls dey can use 'em to blow up the earth!'

Up's eyes flickered to the tangle of wires, then to the doorway, where Henry and Kelly were jointly tearing a tin can's arm out of its socket and trying to shoot the head off another one at the same time. Reilly was backed into a corner, firing like a maniac.

The five of them couldn't last long. It was only a matter of running out of ammo, a shot in the shoulder, a stumble over a broken piece of robot and any one of them could be down and an easy target. He knew she was right- if they didn't do it now they mightn't have a chance…

He'd seen the state of the rangers down at ground level, he'd fought his way through them and up the ship with the one-track thought of getting to Taz, but his brain had registered their condition- less than twenty of them against a neverending stream of robots. It was hours at the very least, it could possibly be days before Holden and the rest of the rangers got here- no-one could hold out that long, and none of them were any closer to being able to get into the ship and take over for them…

…but he knew what metal and electricity did, knew there was a high chance Taz would die if she cut the wires…but they were going to die anyway…but if they were, he wanted to die holding her hand…

So many conflicting thoughts…

'Up, we gotta stop them destroying the earth!' Taz said desperately, noticing the tumult in his eyes. 'I gotta do it now, or…'

'I'm afraid I can't allow that.'

Everyone, human and robot alike, stopped what they were doing at the sound of the all-too-familiar voice.

'Controller,' grated the robots, ceasing their attack to salute the visitor, but the five rangers were so shocked they were hardly in a position to take advantage of this cease of fire.

'Well, well,' the deep voice continued, the figure striding out from behind the robots and into the full view of the starship rangers, 'it seems like no matter what I do, Commander Up always manages to thwart me again. Well this time, it all stops here.'

Up and Taz were so stunned neither of them could speak. _This_ was the Controller- this was their great leader for whom they had waited before putting their plan into action?

Doctor Space-Claw looked from one to the other, threw back his helmeted head and laughed.

* * *

><p>Commander Up's arrival had spurred the rangers on with one last frail shard of hope. The second drop pod had crashed among them, landing directly on top of a platoon of robots and sending fragments of metal body parts flying, and Up himself had assisted them in killing the troublesome droids who had been tailing Criss and Ensign Klaine for over an hour.<p>

Crawford had raised his eyes to the sky with relief- Up couldn't be the only one- help must be on its way. Not to mention the fact that now, thanks to the pod his fellow Commander had haphazardly landed, they now had a small amount of shelter from the neverending fire of the robots, as well as a handful of medical supplies to tend to their wounded and a bit more ammo.

But Up himself hadn't stopped to help them for long. Demanding to know where Taz was, he had charged through the robot lines, shooting with the ferocity of a madman in his sprint for the robots' ship. It was clear his first loyalty was to his Lieutenant, and to assist her in the most important part of the mission- the destruction of the robot weapon; he couldn't waste too much time on the ground, fighting.

In the brief few snatches of conversation he and Up had had, Crawford had ascertained that Holden and the rest of the G.L.E.E., although imprisoned in their Headquarters, were making every effort they could to free themselves and come to their aid.

_That's all well and good,_ Crawford thought, _but how long's that gonna take? They gotta get out _and_ then get here before they're any help to us…_

Another stretch of time rolled on, and the rangers weren't coming.

February's arm was bleeding profusely now, and she was lying on the ground, only just protected by one of the wings of the drop pod, Bug's spindly arms around her as he tried to staunch the flow.

'Look at my outfit, it's ruined!' She was whinging, despite the far more obvious problems around her. A parade of droids was now winding its way ever closer, and this newest lot appeared to be a lot more durable than the first few rounds of robots, taking longer to shoot down. It was as if they had already had a strategy- sending out the cheapest, less valuable machines first and saving the better ones for last, when the enemy was weaker and less resistant.

'Get her aboard Up's drop pod!' Crawford snapped impatiently, 'they all come with first aid supplies- get that arm bandaged and then come back and help! We can't do it without you, we're outnumbered as it is…'

Crawford darted round the front of the pod, avoiding a barrage of fire that immediately zoomed at him, hurling the one grenade he had managed to save and diving back behind the pod to safety.

The robots were still advancing, only two rows or so having been destroyed, and the backup rangers still weren't coming. Behind him, a blast dislodged Specs' glasses from her nose, shattering the lenses and causing the broken glass to fall, scratching her cheeks. Krayonder yelled out a ridiculous, half surfer-half battle cry and threw the remains of the specs at the perpetrator, and still the robots came, and still the starship rangers did not.

They were never going to win this. They were as good as dead.

* * *

><p>'You've been behind this all the time!' Up finally found his voice.<p>

Space-Claw nodded.

'Everythin'- the robot attacks on Farm Planet, the robots on that abandoned planet where I nearly died…'

'Perhaps you're not as perceptive as I thought,' Space-Claw made a little tutting noise. 'You missed out quite a few things there, Commander. I must confess myself a little disappointed, I was under the impression you were on to me from the very beginning.'

'I knew somethin' was up when your son died and yer did nothin' about it,' Up growled. 'And I started to figure you had some part in this revival of the robots- but I had no idea ya were their _leader_, I mean…' he paused as it all sank in- all the theories he'd thought up while in Space-Claw's quarters becoming real, 'you've always been involved, ain't you? Even durin' the proper Robot War…'

It was hard to tell when their adversary was wearing a helmet, but Space-Claw seemed pleased with himself. 'Indeed, I have always found working with robots more rewarding than for humans- and the position of power infinitely greater. Yes, Commander, and who would ever suspect the Head of the Whole Galactic League, he who seemed to lead the Starship Rangers in a battle against the robots, all the while twisting the odds in their favour, not yours…'

'But look where it's got ya, Space-Claw,' Up said, his courage rising in his chest, 'the Robot Wars ended- we won, and we'll easily do it again!'

'Largely thanks to you,' Space-Claw replied. 'Without your leadership and strategy, most of the starship rangers wouldn't have known what to do- without someone like you to instruct them, half of them would have died in the first week. You should have been made General, not Holden, with your skills, but I knew if you were promoted that high up you'd have found out everything in minutes- Holden is far easier to deceive. Without you to follow, most of the rangers wouldn't have even made it to Qo'onos. I knew by that stage the only way to win was to fake defeat then, lull the rangers into thinking the robot threat was gone before I acted again. And before I did, I knew I would need to get you out of the picture.'

Taz gasped, beginning to grasp where Space-Claw's soliloquy was heading.

'You've been perceptive, Commander Up, but not perceptive enough. You fail to realise all the attempts on your life were not purely coincidental. Why do you think you were volunteered for those reconstructions? If they didn't kill you, at least it meant you were almost fully human again and the robots would have a better chance of doing so- as you know, robots…'

'Won't kill one of their own,' Up, Taz and the cadets finished as one.

'Why do you think I had a Megagirl unit assigned to your team? Junior removed her inhibitor chip in the hope that she would kill everyone on board- including you. More's the pity you survived your 'famous injury'- I thought an autobot would be enough to do you in, but somehow you survived…'

The horrible realisation hit Taz very hard indeed. 'Jou…_jou_ sent Optimus Prime to…'

The images she always tried to fight back came swimming back to her eyes.

_A circular buzz saw…vertically in half…blood and guts and Up lying in pieces…_

Taz screamed and leapt at him, weaponless, powerless to do anything but driven by a mix of rage and fear and revenge. Space-Claw knocked her to the side with one brush of his arm and a contemptuous snort. 'Pathetic.'

'Well, Commander,' he went on, 'perhaps it was owing to your great strength that you survived, or perhaps it was the fact that your Lieutenant keeps defending you so viciously. Either way, you won't stand in my way any longer. You will both die now, and then nothing will come between my robots and dominion over the galaxy. Soon the universe will crumble before the might of Doctor Space-Claw!'

'_Jou're_ de one who's _patético!'_ Taz shouted from the floor, scrabbling around for either her zapper or her knife- whichever she laid hands on first. 'Can't jou see de robots are just using jou to get to us? Why would dey need any humans once dey got what dey wanted? Dey won't need jou once de earth is gone! Don't you know what de first robot ever did? _Killed its creator_…'

Again Space-Claw laughed, a hollow, almost mechanical sound. 'And you _assume_, Lieutenant, that I do not know this? You _assume_ that I am, in fact, human?'

* * *

><p>'Bug, it really hurts!'<p>

Bug tried to calm February as he wiped her wound with ointment- Up had shown him how to do that shortly after he became a starship ranger and he figured it might help now- and used his pincers to help wind bandages around her arm.

'You gotta hold on, February- you can't give up fighting now! We have to keep going for as long as we can, remember?'

'But Bug…there aren't enough of us, and my clothes are all gross with blood…' she gave her bloodstained sleeve a disgusted look, 'and my hair's all messed up, I just don't think I can do this any more….and Bug, I don't wanna die…'

He couldn't argue with her there. He didn't want to die either, not when he'd only joined the rangers so recently, not when he'd only had a few months of perfect happiness and everything he'd ever wanted…

But he knew part of being a starship ranger was getting the job done. He'd always known that, even when he was just a reluctant egg-planter who escaped to a crashed starship to fantasize. And this job may well involve dying, because there just weren't enough of them to keep fighting forever- they were incredibly tired, a large number of them wounded now, it would only take a small thing to bring them down and the backup was taking forever…

_If only the Hive had come to help_… Bug thought. _We could have had a better chance with the help of the other bugs…_

* * *

><p>It had been a fair few minutes since anyone had thought about fighting, other than Taz's feeble attempt to attack Space-Claw. The robots still stood round the room, arms bent upwards in a salute, clearly waiting for further instructions from their controller before they attempted to attack. Henry, Reilly and Kelly were cowering, their eyes flitting from the tin cans to the Head of the Galactic League, appearing to be almost hiding behind their guns.<p>

Up and Taz were shocked and speechless at Space-Claw's latest revelation. Not…human? It was something even they hadn't guessed at.

'Did you really think,' Space-Claw said, 'that any robot would ever willingly answer to a human? Even I was surprised, I must admit, that I was able to impersonate a human so easily. Alter a woman's mind with drugs to make her think the child she's carrying is yours, raise said child to believe he's your son…it was all far too simple. It just goes to show robots are a superior race. A mere _human_ could not lead an army such as this- the position of Controller requires a remarkable robot, able to formulate plans, able to understand how humans think, able to pose as one of them and expose their vulnerability. A robot _with the power to design other robots.'_

Something immediately sparked in Taz's brain. Her breath hitched involuntarily.

'I see you follow me, Lieutenant. You were right when you said the first robot killed its creator, after which it….'

'Made more killer robots…' Taz couldn't even believe the words coming out of her own mouth. It was all so surreal, this couldn't be right, but that robot must be dead by now, surely, it couldn't be _him_, not _Space-Claw…_

Up turned his head slowly to meet her eyes. 'You don't mean…'

The robot-who-wasn't-a-man slowly brought his hands up to his helmet and lifted the visor.

It would have all been funny, in a twisted, unbelievable, absurd sort of way, had it not been terrifying.

'_All hail Astroboy!_' the robots in the room immediately began to chant as the covering was removed from Space-Claw's face, revealing what would have once been an attractively designed set of features. The large eyes and button nose no longer looked cute, though, there was a cruel glint in the features that had clearly once intended to be pleasant.

A weird, hysterical noise escaped Taz's lips. This was all too…_wrong,_ their leader was a robot, their leader was _the_ robot, their leader had once been _Astroboy_…

'I was the most remarkable design of the century,' Space-Claw said, replacing his helmet, 'My creator gave me his own intellect, his genius, and it was with these that I was able to upgrade myself into a more powerful being than he would ever be, and create hundreds of subordinates to do my bidding, each programmed to obey me and to kill humans on sight. Of course, the name 'Astroboy' wouldn't do if I wanted to leave my mark as a strong and terrible leader, so I shaped myself into a more fearsome robot with a more fearsome name…the knowledge my creator had given me gave me a great understanding of humans and their weaknesses and I made my army to be above such weaknesses, free of emotion…'

Taz opened her mouth, but Space-Claw could tell where she was heading. 'Except, of course, for your friend, Megagirl. I knew something was wrong with that design when that pathetic human Tootsie Noodles was able to break her programming. No matter- no more robots will ever fall to your weak tricks again. I _will_ have dominion over this galaxy- and this time you won't stand in my way.'

He took a step closer to the pair of them. Taz found herself gripping Up's arm without registering it.

'This time I _will_ finish you off, Commander,' there were a series of resounding clicks, Space-Claw's robot hands were changing, transforming, reshaping and fitting into new sockets so they weren't hands any more, sharp metal starting to poke its way out from where the wrists had once been…

'No…' Taz murmured as the metal shapes began to take a more defined form, '_N_o…'

'Familiar, Lieutenant? I was pleased with the design myself, used it on some of my more advanced designs of robot...and autobot…by the way, Commander, Optimus Prime sends his regards.'

He was advancing toward them now but neither of them could move, their eyes fixed on the circular buzz saws that whirred and spun where Space-Claw's hands had once been.

* * *

><p>Specs was stumbling about- the loss of her glasses meaning she could barely see two feet in front of her face, let alone the gang of robots that were massing around her. She fumbled on the ground for her zapper, touching, instead, the foot of one of the killer machines. It reached down, pointing its gun in her face and Krayonder leapt, knocking it to the ground and landing a few good punches and kicks on it before shooting its face off.<p>

'No-one tries to kill _my_ girlfriend!' he announced in triumph, standing with one foot on its carcass before he realised what he had said. 'I mean, uh, friend, who's a girl….'

He needn't have bothered- there was no-one around to hear the slip- no-one human anyway. The line of robots that had been coming closer and closer had now formed a ring around the two rangers, guns pointed at them from all sides.

Krayonder swallowed, hoping fervently that he'd be able to refrain from crying in front of Specs. There was no hope of getting out of this- even if he shot a few of them out the way he was likely to have been hit from behind before they could get out.

'_Prepare for your deaths, hu-mans_,' the metallic voices said, almost mockingly, aiming their weapons as one. Krayonder pulled Specs close to him and shut his eyes.

A loud noise rang through his ears, but he felt nothing. He wondered for a second if it was the shock, if he'd start to feel the wounds in a second or two, if he was already dead. It was strange, though, the gunfire hadn't sounded all that much _like_ gunfire, more like…rainfall of some kind…

He opened his eyes slowly and couldn't stop himself from gaping. He was fine, not a single mark on him (well no new marks, anyway) and all around him the ring of robots were clawing at themselves, covered in a horrible slimy gunk that stuck to their bodies and prevented them from moving. Krayonder watched in awe, mouthing a silent _woooah_ as sparks flew from them, the substance clearly messing with their circuits, and then they fell, one by one, first to their knees and then forward onto their faces.

For a moment Krayonder was gripped with the luck of the situation, too relieved at not being killed to wonder where the substance that had killed the robots had come from. Then slowly, the fear beginning to return, he looked upwards.

The sky was clouded with colourful shapes, the hum of thousands of creatures buzzing filling the air.

The bugs had come after all.

* * *

><p><strong>Hmm, yeah, I hope that wasn't too weird to be belived, what with the Space-Claw once being Astroboy but getting upgraded and becoming robot leader thing. I sorta wanted him to be the first ever robot to have a reason for everything he was doing...I don't know entirely whether I've pulled it off...anyway I hope you can put up with that enough to stay tuned, because things are about to happen. More battling, and...did I hear more TUp? Apparently so.<strong>


	25. The Naming of Taz

**Greetings! Just to remind you all that I own nothing, and don't claim to do so. Many thanks!**

**And now, our feature presentation.**

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><p>Up couldn't move. He couldn't think. All he could do was stand there, paralysed with fear as the two rotating buzz saws whined and drilled their way towards him. His head swam, and he was catapulted back to two and a half years earlier, to the standoff on Qo'onos, to Optimus Prime's chest opening up, to the excruciating pain of being sliced in two, the exact sensation so easily remembered when triggered…<p>

His legs were shaking, his arms, leaning against one of the control panels, were bound to give out any minute. He struggled to regain control of his thoughts, force himself through the fear barrier and fight back, _don't think of the buzz saws, think of Taz…._but he was swaying on the spot now, blackness gathering at the corners of his eyes, he was going to pass out and he could do nothing to stop it….

Up felt the slam of the metal floor against his back, the sharp sensation of fingernails digging into his chest. The blood returning to his head, he opened his eyes to see Taz pinning him there, having knocked him out the way.

'Taz…' he murmured, still shuddering, still trying to will his muscles to move and free themselves from the shock. He felt a firm grip on his arm, his zapper being shoved into his hand.

'Get up!' Taz shouted. The whirring of the buzz saw was still coming closer, somewhere above their heads. '_Now!' _ she screamed, and the word hit a nerve somewhere inside the Commander. The two leapt in opposite directions as the saw on Space-Claw's right wrist came slamming down, splintering through one of the control panels. A strange, metallic growl escaped the robot leader's throat as he twisted his arm to free the saw, sending large chunks of metal flying in all directions. Up staggered to his feet as a piece of piping flew in his direction, dodging to the side and loading his zapper in a swift motion. He fired off a shot at Space-Claw, who deflected it with a swipe of his other saw-hand and sent it zinging into the chest of one of his robot drones.

'Kill the others,' Space-Claw instructed, and the hands of the robots immediately dropped from their salutes, 'I will deal with Commander Up myself.'

None of them had time to plan anything out- the robots were firing again, even more mercilessly than before, fully intending to carry out Space-Claw's orders and annihilate the four other rangers. Henry stumbled on a piece of rubble as a tin can reached out to grab him. His zapper clattered to the floor and he frantically cast about for it, his fingers closing instead around a long piece of metal, which he clubbed desperately at the robot's legs with.

Taz was shooting like a machine gun, _pew_ after _pew_ after _pew _issuing from the end of her zapper, her eyes darting between her attackers and Up. Space-Claw's right hand was still embedded in the panel. He twisted and flailed it, finally wrenching his arm free with a loud snap. Something silvery sailed over all their heads, spinning so fast it was a blur and crashing into one of the robots, immediately slicing it to pieces. Space-Claw looked down at the stump of his right wrist, then over at the mangled pieces of the robot and the corner of the room, where the saw had landed and was still spinning like a top. He gave a roar, lashing at the Commander with his left arm with even more vigour.

'This has gone far enough!' Space-Claw shouted as he swung, Up dodging and firing a pointless shot, 'Unit 889! Activate the doomsday device! These humans have kept this pathetic little fight going for too long!'

The droid who was currently engaged in choking the life out of Kelly dropped the cadet to the ground, swivelling around and approaching the controls for the device. It pulled a lever slowly and deliberately, glancing out the window as the large needle-like point of the weapon shifted into place, pointing, no doubt, in the direction of the earth.

'No!' Taz shrieked, scrambling to her feet, but another robot knocked her to the floor, holding her down as she struggled and moving the tip of its gun to her temple.

Up's head whipped around toward the controls but Space-Claw stood in his way, his one remaining buzz saw raised and pointed in the Commander's direction.

Unit 889 balled its metal hand into a fist and raised it above the _detonate _button…

And then, from the dark corner of the room something stirred. A small figure slipped with ease through the legs of the droid cornering it, sliding across the floor in a smooth, swift movement. The boy lunged, snatching Taz's knife up from the ground, and then scrambled to his feet, shooting the robot at the controls through the face with three well-aimed shots. The robot crumpled to its knees, its hand landing just a few inches away from the _detonate_ button. Everyone had stopped their current little battles as the situation occurred, the other robots dropping their victims and clomping towards the control panel as Space-Claw shouted 'kill him! _Kill him_!'

Reilly ducked under the arm of a ferocious tin can, thrusting his hand, still clutching Taz's knife, into the mess of wires. A horrific buzzing noise filled the enclosed space. Sparks flew, the control panel crackled with electricity, and then the entire panel exploded, sending a shower of bits of metal, broken levers and Reilly flying across the room.

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><p>The colour was returning to February's face. Bug was now pacing the confined area of the crashed drop pod, his gun held high in case a robot chose this moment to intrude.<p>

'C'mon, February,' he pleaded, his sticklike limbs shaking from anticipation, 'we have to go, now! Who knows how bad it is out there? Without us, the rangers are down two, and we didn't have that many to start off with!'

'I just wanna clean off my shirt a little,' February whined, holding the sleeve of her overall under the tap and trying in vain to rinse off the bloodstains.

'February, I-'

'Hey!' The third voice caused both of them to start. Bug whirled around, zapper armed and ready, to see Roach's bulbous eyes beaming back at him.

'Bug! What's the buzz?' the small pink and purple insect flitted through the hatch and into the pod, followed by the other familiar face of a large snail, who was hiccupping loudly and unashamedly.

Bug's pincers dropped wide open. 'You're…you're here!'

'Heeyyyy, and it's your lady-friend!' Roach was saying, buzzing around February and tickling her face with his feelers. 'Have you torn off his head yet?' he whispered to the schience officer.

Bug was too excited to notice the tease. 'Roach, wh-what are you doing here? I thought the Overqueen said she didn't wanna have anything to do with this war?'

'Bug…are you speaking in _bug?'_ February asked from the corner.

'Why, _I'm_ the Overqueen now, didn't you know?' the drunk snail said, pushing his way closer to February, who shuffled away a little, intimidated both by the speech she couldn't understand and the obvious drunkenness of the enormous invertebrate.

Both Bug and Roach ignored them. 'Well, the Overqueen changed her mind,' Roach explained, 'she decided in the best interests of protecting the hive that we'd better put out talents to a productive use and come rid our world of these intruders.'

Bug was astounded. 'She did?'

'Well, she needed some persuasion, so I gave her a little…'

'That's great!' Bug interrupted, before his best bug friend started to go into things he'd rather not know about. 'So where is everyone?'

'In a spaceship…in _space_!' the drunk snail shouted.

'Pay no attention to him… he's drunk,' Roach patted Bug on the head, 'they're just outside, come on!'

And they zipped out of the drop pod to check out the action, paying no attention to the snail's protests of 'no, _I'm_ drunk!'

The scene was fantastic. No longer were a few starship rangers cowering, trying their utmost to hold off death for a little while longer. An array of bright colours met their eyes- it seemed the entire hive had turned out to help. The sky was filled with the fluttering of wings as insects flew overhead, dropping their slime and saliva all over the robots, encasing them in goop and allowing them no escape. On the ground the mammal wranglers were herding the creatures in their care, encouraging them to converge on the metal men and knock them down, while an assortment of large bees, butterflies and other bugs were doing their best to break the robots into pieces. Bug watched in amazement as two egg planters grabbed hold of a droid's arms, dragging it to the ground and allowing Krayonder to step up and shoot it in the chest.

It was what he had always dreamed- the bugs and the humans working side by side. His two families united for the greater good.

No longer did the outlook appear hopeless. It seemed like the battle had turned around.

They might be able to win this after all.

Bug looked up at the robot ship, at the robots' device, which now seemed so much less threatening, and his thoughts went instantly to Taz and Up, in there somewhere battling it out themselves, trying to save the universe and unaware of what was going on outside. He looked around- the rangers and the bugs definitely had gained the upper hand- the presence or absence of one fighter would no longer make much difference, backup was not an issue. He was going to go in there and get Up and Taz out, bring them here to watch the robots meet their end.

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><p>It all happened very fast. In one instant an electrical explosion of titanic proportions had taken place. Taz ducked and covered her head as large pieces of the doomsday device's control panel blasted everywhere, narrowly avoiding a large, smoking piece of piping that whipped past her ear. Sparks showered the control room, small fires flaring up on the floor and on various other control panels, sending the rest of the ship's circuits haywire. The lights flickered on and off. Two sirens started bleating at once. A sharp piece of metal hit Space-Claw's decapitated buzz saw so hard it went straight through it. Reilly slumped to the floor, shaking and foaming at the mouth, his hands blistered, burns running right up his arms.<p>

Kelly and Henry were at his side in seconds, frantically trying to revive him, telling him to hold on. The cadet Taz had hated not an hour ago was spasming, his eyelids opening and shutting at a terrific pace. His chances didn't look good, Taz thought with bitter regret. She eased herself to her feet, stepping over the corpses of two robots and starting towards the recruits when Space-Claw's roar of fury stopped them all in their tracks.

The earth-destroying device had drooped, no longer pointing at the sky. They had done it.

'Dere's no point any more, Space-Claw!' Taz shouted triumphantly. 'Jou can't touch de earth any more- jour device is _dead_, and soon de rest of de starship rangers will be here, and dere will be not'ing jou can do. It's over!'

'You assume so, Lieutenant?' Space-Claw said. 'All this goes to show is that once again, you lot have stood between me and total domination of the universe. The device can easily be rebuilt- nothing can stop the might of Doctor Space-Claw! Your starship rangers are locked inside their own Headquarters- I saw to it personally. There's no-one coming to stop my army, and all I have to do is wait til my squadron have killed the last of your little friends down there before we can start work on another one. You haven't won. You've just prolonged my victory- but your Commander's death will ensure it is never prolonged again!'

The robots were at them again, Taz having to work overtime to shield the recruits from the oncoming blasts as they struggled to revive Reilly. There were only three left in the room, but their combined strength was making them extremely difficult to take down, especially when the energy of the starship rangers was rapidly dwindling, leaving them firing much less accurate shots and dodging with less agility than normal.

Taz took to alternating shots, left robot, right robot, left robot, right robot, all the time keeping one eye on Up, on how he was battling Space-Claw with all his might. Kelly was still supporting Reilly's head, Henry had gotten to his feet and had joined her.

Left robot, right robot…where was the third one?

And then she heard the yelp- the location of the third robot was revealed as it knocked Up's zapper out of his hand and grabbed him by the ankle, hoisting him in the air. Up flailed at the robot's arm, trying to free himself to no avail, and a scream wrenched itself from Taz's mouth as Space-Claw stepped forward, raising his remaining buzz-saw hand.

'Perhaps this time, Commander, we'll cut you all the way in half…'

Taz's muscles worked without her, her entire being spurred on by a maddening rush of adrenaline. She had no plan, no idea what in the hell she was doing, but her body had triggered a flight or fight response- either shut down and hide her face away while Up got sawn in half for the second time, or act. And she was damn well going to act. Words weren't even forming in her head as she flung herself past the two robots in her way, she was pushed on only by some sensation that she had to prevent Space-Claw from cutting up the man she loved, by whatever means she could…

Everything occurred in the blink of an eye. Her eyes fell on the broken buzz saw on the ground, still spinning away, a slight clunk sounding every time the metal pipe embedded in the middle of it hit the wall. She made a grab for it, hands grasping the pipe tightly, trying to hold the rotating blades as far from her face as possible. Up closed his eyes as Space-Claw's saw hand came excruciatingly close to his face. Taz gave a mighty battle cry and charged across the room, raising her makeshift weapon high above her head. With a cry of exertion she brought it down hard on Space-Claw's left arm, driving it remorselessly into the metal and pushing down. Space-Claw shouted something unintelligible as his arm came clean off, dropping to the ground with a dull thud and taking off the foot of the robot holding Up as it did so.

The robot teetered, dangling the Commander dangerously close to the two still-moving saws, and Taz took aim and made a careful shot, hitting its chest just so and allowing it to crash right on top of the sharp blades and send Up careening a few feet. He sat up, wrenching his ankle free from the dead robot's grasp and, picking up his zapper from where it lay, shakily got to his feet.

'Jou got not'ing on us, Space-Claw,' Taz growled, utter hatred for him grinding out of the words, 'and jou're forgetting somet'ing- jou can't kill Up so long as he has _me_.' She reloaded her zapper in such a quick, fluid movement it was barely noticeable. 'Now _jou_ are gonna die, and get out of _our _way for good.'

She took a step closer to the now defenceless Space-Claw, pushing the butt of her gun up against his chest. 'Jou got no weapons now, jour empire is going to end- right now.'

'My robots will destroy you if you kill me,' Space-Claw said.

'Your robots are all dead!' came a cry from the doorway. Bug stood, pincers clicking, a gun looking extremely out of place in his insect arms. 'You underestimated us bugs- all willing to give our lives for the hive, and there were more than enough of us. Your robots are gone.'

Taz was so surprised she forgot momentarily to be fierce. 'Gone?'

Kelly and Henry, who had been busy tearing off the heads of the last two robots, dropped their own weapons and got to their feet. 'They are?'

Bug nodded vigorously. 'We did it!'

Taz lowered her gun, walking slowly over to her blackened, mutilated knife and tentatively picked it up. No electric shock- that was good. Still keeping her slow, controlled pace she strode back over to Space-Claw, turning the dagger around in her palms.

'Jou two,' she tossed a glance over at Henry and Kelly, 'jou don' wanna see dis. Get Reilly outta here- take him down to de others and try to get him medical help before ees too late.' They took one look at the glint in her eyes and hastened to obey her, hoisting Reilly's arms over their shoulders and half-carrying, half-dragging him out the control room. They'd all killed robots before, they'd all seen robots be killed before, but Taz felt that this was different somehow. She was about to end the robot wars for good, and she knew exactly how she wanted to do it. And it wasn't exactly pretty.

'Jour war is over, Space-Claw,' she spat. 'And it's about time I repaid jou for _los inconvenientes_ jou've caused us.' She raised her knife slowly.

'Dis is for de reconstructions.' She jammed the blade into Space-Claw's shoulder, twisting and rattling it til his other arm fell to the ground with a crash. She tugged the blade out again, feeling only a slight twinge of remorse. Had this been a human, she never would have been this harsh, despite what she threatened her fellow rangers with. But this wasn't a human, this was a robot- a killer robot- the very killer robot responsible for the torment the human race had suffered for the last hundred years or so.

'Dis is for ruling de earth for a hundred years wid a fist of iron, and for all de people who died in de robot wars!' she rammed the knife through the visor of his helmet, not withdrawing it until she heard the sound of circuits dying. No-one tried to stop her, tried to deny her the chance to avenge all humans everywhere.

'_And dis is for Optimus Prime_!' she shouted dramatically, plunging her knife into the robot leader's chest. The sizzling of circuits could be heard even more clearly now. A weird, white foamy substance started to pour from the knife wound, and the Hispanic girl jumped back for fear it was corrosive. With the loud noise of a computer being drained of its power, the robot once known as Astroboy, commonly known as Space-Claw and who intended to have been known as the tyrranical ruler of the galaxy fell to the ground, the mechanical limbs ceasing to move.

Taz stood very still for a moment, her heart pounding, her mind on overdrive, hardly able to believe her own actions. She had actually done it. She had defeated the very killing machine that had brought about the robot wars. They had been going on since before she was born, she had been fighting the tin cans for nearly all her life, and now she had ended their threat for good. Forever. Her teeth chattered and she forced herself to get a grip. She slowly raised her head.

Her eyes met Up's.

And in an instant he had closed the gap between them and swept her up into his arms before she had time to say a word.

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><p>Up held on tight to Taz for as long as he could, revelling in the feeling of holding her, washed over with the euphoria of the fact that <em>the killer robots were gone forever<em>, that she had just saved his life, for what wouldn't be the first time but was certainly a significant one, that this could have been the end and yet here they were, together again with an unhindered future ahead of them. He buried his face into her neck and she didn't try to stop him; he felt the flutter of lashes against his ear as her eyes shut. It was all too much, the rush of feelings that assaulted him all at once- the joy that at last the human race were safe from robots, the wonder at the fact that it was Taz who had saved them in the end, the too-good-to-be-true happiness that Taz was _his_ girl, and that he had another chance with her.

Up felt her sigh heavily and exhaled himself, for what felt like the first proper time in several days, gently setting her down and breaking apart from their embrace.

'Uh, guys?'

_That_ caused him to jump- he'd forgotten about Bug being there. A slight embarrassment immediately coloured his cheeks.

'Oh, Bug! My oldest friend!' Up babbled.

The insect-ranger merely shook his head. 'You wanna come down and see everyone?'

They joined hands as they walked back down through the ship after Bug, fingers tightly intertwined- so tightly that Up was pretty sure he was losing circulation, but he couldn't bring himself to care.

The sight that greeted them was a strange one. Bugs and starship rangers alike were clustered about the place, chatting and assisting with each other's injuries. The corpses of hundreds of robots were strewn all about the place, many covered in a rather strange looking layer of gunk. In the distance, two pink and purple shapes stood apart from the group- the smaller shape recognisable as Roach, buzzing happily in front of the Overqueen as she quietly and respectfully ate the small number of insects that had lost their lives for the hive.

'_There _they are!' came a familiar voice, and Commander Crawford hobbled over to them, a large gash on his leg causing him to limp. 'About time, too!'

'Ees done,' Taz informed him, 'de device is broken, and Space-Claw's dead…'

'_Space-Claw?_' Crawford's brow furrowed, and Taz realised no-one down here would be aware of the goings-on up in the control room of the robot ship, of the truths Space-Claw had revealed. That was a long story to be told to them all, but not just now. Neither Taz nor Up felt up to that right now.

'De kids- did jou see de kids?' Taz pressed Crawford urgently. 'Are dey…is Reilly…'

'Reilly's gonna be fine, Lieutenant,' Crawford replied. 'Looked pretty bad- we thought he was a goner for a minute- the bugs gave him somethin' weird, dunno what it was but his colour's come back. And I just got a call from Holden- his fleet are gonna be here in another hour or so, and they've got medics with them who can give him the proper attention…'

Taz breathed a sigh of relief and Up chuckled. 'And ter think you once punched that kid in the gut…'

The Lieutenant elbowed him. 'Shut up,' she muttered, 'jou weren't dere.'

'Well then,' Crawford said, the Overqueen's holding some kinda celebration slash debriefing thing- you wanna come join us?'

Both Up and Taz looked unsure of this.

'Uh, yeah, sure, in a minute,' Up said uneasily, 'I just wanna have a word with Taz here first.'

Crawford shrugged and departed, leaving the two rangers on their own. Both of them shuffled their feet a little, each tormented with the thoughts they wanted to say aloud, neither of them daring to go first.

Taz let go of his hand and turned to face him full on, and Up couldn't keep it in any longer, grabbing hold of her once more.

'Oh, Taz, I'm just so sorry about before, about our fight, I know I said so on the phone but it just ain't the same…I never meant what I said and I ain't never gonna let you go again…' he crooned, pressing urgent kisses to the top of her head, her forehead, her mouth.

Taz raised one finger and pressed it lightly to his lips. 'Up, stop. Dat's done. Over. _Terminado._ We'll forget abou' dat, _ese?'_ Now it was her turn to look down, to avoid his eye in awkward uncertainty.

'Actually, Up…dere was somet'ing I wanted to tell jou.' A little voice at the back of her mind screamed not to do it but she knew after everything they'd been through, she wanted to give him something to prove once and for all that she trusted him, that she loved him, that she was his and only his.

She'd tried to keep it from him when they met. She'd tried to tell him down on Farm Planet but the opportunity had slipped away. But now seemed like as good a time as ever.

Up looked down at her, beginning to get a little concerned by her silence as she thought it through. 'Taz?'

She raised her eyes slowly to look at him. '_Esperanza,_ Up,' she said quietly.

He frowned at her. 'I've picked up loads o' Spanish from ya, Taz, but I dunno that one, what's it mean?'

She laughed then, in spite of herself. 'Who _cares_ what it means?'

'I don't get…'

'Ees my name, Up,' she clarified, watching his face as he digested this. 'My name is Esperanza.'

She smiled as a look of amazement crossed his face, as it sank in just exactly what had been given to him. She watched his lips move as he mouthed it, trying it out experimentally on his tongue, looking at her as though trying to fit the name to the picture of her in his mind. And then he grinned.

'Well, hey there, Esperanza,' he said, taking her hand and shaking it as if he'd never met her before.

Taz rolled her eyes. '_Idiota! _I'm still de same person I always was!'

Up was still smiling. 'But you…trust me? I mean…enough for that….'

Taz smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. 'As if I would ever _not_ trust jou! If I'd known it really meant _dat much_ to jou to know _mi nombre_, jou could have just _asked._'

They were both laughing now, unable to keep the stupid grins from their faces.

'Es…' Up began, but Taz held up one hand to cut him off.

'De name 'Taz' was de first t'ing jou ever gave me. I wanna keep it if…if jou don't…'

'Mind?' he finished for her. '_Heck_, no, I don't _mind_, Taz. I don't care whatever the hell your name is- I _love you, _dammit!'

He pulled her into yet another tight embrace and Taz laughed again. '_Eso es bueno, _'cause it's a hell of a lot easier to pronounce.'

Up pulled back, chuckling and shaking his head. He ran his hand through Taz's hair, a sudden idea flashing through his brain.

Taz moved up to unite their lips but Up put a hand on her shoulder to stop her, gripped by this idea he'd had, this no-notice, crazy, stupid…_wonderful_ thought.

'You know,' Up said, trying to sound casual, although his heart had taken off at the thought of what he was about to say, 'I think Tootsie and Megagirl had the right idea.'

Taz gave him a weird look. 'What, being an _idiota_ and a robot?'

Up's genuine chuckle soon became forced and over-the-top as his nervousness overtook him once again. Taz stared at him like he'd gone insane.

'No,' he clarified, trying to ignore the fact that he'd turned completely to jelly, 'I meant, well…getting' married on th' spur of the moment.'

His very jaw was shaking as he choked the idea out, his face flushing a shade of red something akin to a lobster in a cooking pot. He didn't know where this had come from, it just…_had_- perhaps it was the victory, perhaps it was the fact that he had faced both his and Taz's death several times up in that room with Space-Claw…all he knew was that he would never want anyone else, all he wanted was to have Taz by his side forever and there was no point in preparations or waiting til after an 'appropriate' amount of dating.

Taz's jaw dropped, her chin practically touching her collarbone. She stared at him in disbelief. 'Are jou asking me…'

Up smiled nervously. 'Um…yeah.'

The girl was stunned, the blood draining from her face as she processed this.

'Dat…has got to be….' She said slowly, 'de _worst t'ing I have ever heard_! Jou call dat a proposal! _Mierda, _Up, jou're hopeless!'

The smile on Up's face began to dwindle- but Taz's grew as she dropped the tough façade. 'But yes!'

Up's grin spread to a new, almost painful width. He grabbed her in his arms and kissed her in jubilation.

'Hey! Crawford!' he yelled. 'Get over here now!'

Some distance away, Crawford's head turned. 'What?'

'Jou mean _now?'_ Taz hissed, grabbing hold of his arms. Up just shot her a wicked grin and nodded.

'Crawford, get over here!' he called again. 'We need a Commander over here before Taz changes her mind!'

Taz couldn't help smirking. All of a sudden a host of rangers were upon them, Commander Crawford waiting expectantly for Up's request, Krayonder and Criss very loudly discussing the possibilities of what might be about to occur and passing money back and forth.

Up smiled at Taz. 'Last chance to back out,' he teased.

She hit him.

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><p><strong>Well that was unexpected...anyway, there is going to be one more chapter after this one, to tie everything up, with a healthy dose of fluff, I should imagine. I know Taz's revelation and Up's decision may have seemed a bit...quick, but that was sort of the point :3<strong>

**I FOUND (like a Hufflepuff) the name 'Esperanza' in a namebook...it means 'hope' in Spanish. I thought it fairly appropriate.**


	26. Just like old times

**It's finally done, fellows. I hope this last chapter is okay, I'd intended to have it up on Monday, but due to some unfortunate saving on my part I lost the whole thing and had to stay up to rewrite it, so I hope it still suffices. Mostly just fluff and closure.**

**And then it's goodbye from me, for a while. From tomorrow onwards, marking the start of Lent, I won't be on fanfiction for 40 days or so, so please forgive my lack of updates, comments, replies et cetera. I shall return after Easter, and I shall make it up to you with loads of reviews and new stories. **

**Thanks for everyone's lovely reviews, alerts et cetera. I will miss you all.**

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><p>It was the most rushed ceremony in history- putting even Tootsie and Megagirl's one-minute wedding to shame. There were no rings, no fancy decorations, Crawford stuffed up the vows but neither of them cared. The emotions were coursing through both of them so fast they didn't have time to digest them- only a few minutes ago, Taz had been experiencing fear and adrenaline as she brought down a buzz saw on Space-Claw, followed almost instantly by elation at the realisation that the robots were dead, and now, before they'd even had time to properly celebrate that, she was standing here, finding herself married to Up.<p>

The ceremony seemed to blur through her mind, over before it had even begun, but it didn't matter. It was real, it was legal, they were tied to each other, they were in love. _That_ was all that mattered. It seemed weird that just a short while ago they had been prepared for their own deaths, that just a few days ago, even, they had had the fight to end all fights, and may have been separated for good. Yet they were here, now. Together.

They turned to each other, their eyes locking, and then the assortment of rangers and bugs cheered and whistled as Up grabbed hold of Taz and kissed her, swinging her up into his arms.

Krayonder and Criss's loud wolf-whistles stood out from among the rest of the excited noises, Taz thought out the corner of her eye she could see Crawford waving his hat.

'You guys! That is, like, the cutest thing ever!' February squealed. The two rangers broke apart to look at the crowd still celebrating their happiness, Taz still wrapped around up with her feet dangling. The Hispanic girl normally would have hurled something at the schience officer's head, but right now even she was too happy to bother with it.

'Oh-em-gee, you're, like, married! Isn't that exciting?'

The grins abruptly fell from the faces of two of the cheering rangers.

'Aw, _MAN!_' Krayonder yelled, the colour instantly draining from his face. '_No!_ They're married! We lost the bet, man!'

Criss buried his head in his buddy's shoulder, before realising that this might damage his hair and straightening up, trying to look like he wasn't on the verge of tears.

'Aw, _guys!_' he moaned. 'Why are you determined not to let us get rich?'

'We're broke, dude,' Krayonder whined. 'We've gone into debt to pay off this bet, and you can't even let us win some of it back before you go and get married on us!' The two threw their arms around each other and wailed.

'Serves dem right,' Taz muttered under her breath. A laugh vibrated into the back of her head, indicating that Up had heard her, and with great difficulty she manoeuvred her elbow so that it rammed backwards into him, causing him to yelp. She allowed a smug expression to settle over her features.

'So, Buggette-girl,' Roach buzzed, giving the couple a look that appeared to be the bug equivalent of a wink, 'you gonna tear off his head and let your larva devour his body?'

Taz couldn't help smirking. 'We'll see.'

* * *

><p>Up opened his eyes and forgot where he was for a moment. Large, luxurious quarters. Sunlight which streamed through the large window and across his bed. Silence. It had been so long since he'd slept this well, or for this long, that for a while the haze of semi-consciousness still drifted around his head, clouding it of proper thoughts. Eyes still only open a crack, he gazed at the expanse of blue that sat beyond the glass of his window, becoming aware as he did that he was back at Headquarters. He was also aware, he realised as he shifted a little, that something warm and heavy was pinning his torso down. He frowned. Whatever it was, his arms were wound tightly round it and he was clutching it to his chest, as though it were the most important thing in the world.<p>

Up forced his eyes open all the way and looked down to see a shock of dark hair resting against him, along with a face and slender limbs clinging to him all joining together to form a sleeping figure.

_Taz_.

Focusing on her allowed Up to fully waken, and the thoughts went coursing though his mind as it all came back to him. _Robots…Space-Claw…two circular buzz-saws… a rushed proposal…Holden and his rangers arriving too late…the G.L.E.E. Headquarters…_

So much had happened in the week that had elapsed since the final standoff on Bug World, every occurrence blurring into the next so that everything seemed to have happened at once. On the spur of the moment Up had found himself proposing to Taz, not even giving himself time to celebrate the fact that the robots were gone, and he had been scarcely married two minutes before Holden and the other rangers had finally arrived, too late to contribute to the already finished battle but demanding the details of what happened.

The first week of his marriage had been spent, not on a relaxing honeymoon in some lovely little out-of-the-way place, but by assisting Holden to rebuild the G.L.E.E. after the death of its treacherous former leader. He hadn't been able to spend any time with his wife- _wife, wife, wife, _it was sill so pleasantly strange to associate that title with Taz- during the day at all. Hour upon hour had been spent in Holden's office, Up and Taz being forced to recount the events that took place on the robot ship over and over. The Hispanic girl, for whom patience had never exactly been a strong point, had been growing increasingly frustrated with having to repeat herself, eventually storming from one such meeting.

And then there had been the mountains of red tape to wade through, incident reports to be filled in regarding those rangers who had been injured on Bug World, people to be moved up or reassigned- the whole Galactic League of Extraterrestrial Exploration seemed to need to be reworked now Space-Claw's diabolical reign was over.

It was only now, after most of that was done and dusted, that Up was able to wake without another all-day meeting hanging over him, could fully appreciate this peaceful moment with Taz.

Up lay still for a moment, listening to the silence and feeling the soft hum of her breathing against his sternum. The seven syllables of her full name rolled about under his tongue as he murmured it to himself, trying to wrap his head around the iambs and attribute it to her. _Esperanza Rodriguez._ Sheesh. That was a mouthful. No wonder she preferred _Taz. _Still, she had told him; she had given him this knowledge, given him irrefutable proof that she trusted him above any other.

The Commander let his eyes wander along her sleeping form, taking in the way her arm was slung over him, the slender fingers twitching against his shoulder, the spattering of scars all over her shoulders and upper back. He could remember the incidents attached to several of them- the parabolic scar just below her neck brought back amusing memories of the time she'd tried to kill a rather large fanged creature on her own. She had a tattoo between her shoulder blades; he'd never noticed that before. He squinted, trying to work out what the small cursive letters said- something in Spanish, he thought, but before he could examine it Taz stirred, flexing her limbs and clenching her eyes shut for a brief moment before opening them.

Up smiled as she closed them again and settled back down against him, _hmmm_ing to herself. He leaned down to kiss the top of her head.

'Hey,' he whispered into her hair. 'Esperanza.'

'_Taz,'_ she grumbled, lifting her head to glare at him through squinty, sleep-encrusted eyes.

'I know, I know,' he laughed softly, wrapping his arms more tightly round her, holding her close and shutting his eyes contently as she relaxed again. He wondered if it were possible to be any happier- he couldn't imagine anything more perfect than this particular moment in time, gently dozing back off, entangled in Taz and the blankets.

The loud sound of a fist assaulting metal soon put an end to that. 'Commander!'

'_Mierda!' _Taz groaned loudly, slamming her fist against the pillow just inches from Up's head.

He couldn't help the mischievous smile that crept over his face as he sat up, ruffling her hair. 'Get that, Taz.'

'_Jou_ get it, _idiota!'_ Taz growled, trying without much success to pull the entanglement of blankets over her head. Up paused, considering his next words.

'That's no way to talk to your superior officer,' he teased, elbowing her lightly and unable to suppress his grin at the last time he'd ribbed her this way.

She shot bolt upright, glowering. 'I'll _superior officer _j-'

Once again, Up couldn't resist her endearing fury, and the insult was left unfinished as he grabbed her, crushing their lips together and knocking the breath out of her. Taz wound her arms round his neck, forcing his head closer.

The hammering on the door was becoming more insistent now, and harder to ignore. With a frustrated hiss, Taz broke away from Up. 'Go _away!_' she shouted, casting around for something to hurl at the door.

Up shook his head. 'Go and answer it, Taz…and that's an order.'

Her head whipped around and she shot him a seething stare that clashed with his broad grin, slithering off the bed and dragging all the blankets with her.

Taz stumbled across the room, punching the door release twice in quick succession, causing the door to open barely an inch.

'De hell do jou want?'

'Comman-oh, Lieutenant.' The eye of newly promoted Ensign Henry looked through the crack at her. 'Did I disturb you?'

'Of _course_ jou disturbed me, _idiota_,' Taz grumbled. 'What's goin' on?'

For a moment Taz was hit with a surge of panic- perhaps Henry's urgent knocking meant another disaster- the Headquarters had been invaded again, Megagirl's inhibitor had been damaged irreparably…no. She shook the thoughts away. Everything was _gran_- there wasn't a single robot left in the galaxy, with the exception of Tootsie's inhibited wife, everything was under control here. There was nothing to worry about.

'That was the medibay- Reilly's just woken up. He's pretty much healed- they said we can see him later.'

Taz tried not to let her relief at this news show. Pleased as she was that Reilly, who had saved all their lives down on Bug World, was making a good recovery, she didn't want everyone to think she'd gone completely soft.

'I'm going back to bed.'

'Wait, Holden said he wanted to see you and Commander Up in his o-' the door slid shut, cutting off the rest of Henry's sentence. Taz hobbled back over to the bed and collapsed on it, still cocooned in the blankets. A pair of warm arms wrapped around her, bundling her close.

'Since when have you not wanted to get up?' Up's voice rumbled in her ear.

'_Since_,' Taz growled, 'I had to go to _estupido_ Holden's office every day and tell de same damn story to dat _cabron_ over and…'

'Is that any way to talk about the Head of the Whole Galactic League?' Up asked in mock sternness.

'I _killed _de last Head of de League, _¿te acuerdas? _Don't t'ink I can't do de same to Holden- and den come back to finish jou off…' Taz tried to elbow him, but her arm was still trapped in the blankets, and she had to settle for a weak shove.

Up sat up. 'Come on, hon. We'd better get to Holden's office.'

Taz's head disappeared into her cocoon, leaving only her shock of hair visible. The Commander laughed again as he pulled his shirt on over his head.

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><p>'And there I was, surrounded by these huge killer robots- and I mean <em>huge, <em>they were trying to kill me- but I knew they couldn't take a guy like me down. I knew I could take 'em, so I looked 'em straight in the eye…'

Lieutenant Criss was where he'd been every morning for a week, in the mess hall surrounding by a gaggle of admirers. A group of awed girls (and a couple of guys, too) were hanging on his every word- and in some cases, hanging off his arm too- as he recounted the tale of his part in the Bug World battle. Criss's bravery was played up, as was the ferocity of the tin cans, as his crowd swooned and sighed, and the Lieutenant lay back in his chair, arms behind his head in a gesture of would-be casual attitude towards his 'achievements.'

A few tables away, Krayonder and Specs exchanged glances.

'Dude, he had told that story a million times,' Krayonder said, 'and I'm preeeetty sure he's added that flaming guns bit in since yesterday.'

Specs rolled her eyes as she stirred her tea. 'Criss has a pathological need for positive attention- by believing himself flawless and surrounding himself with mindless followers who think he's brave he inflates his ego.'

Krayonder's eyes glazed over, his mind drifting away from the sentence. He tried to keep them on his secret girlfriend's face as she shifted in her chair. 'Uh…' he began, in a desperate attempt to seem like he'd understood what she was saying, 'yeah. But, uh…if I told that story to you, would it make you think _I'm_ brave?'

Specs shook her head in mirth, and her little smile was all it took for Krayonder to hastily glance around to see if anyone was looking, then lean forward and kiss her,

'Hey, guys!' The pair immediately broke apart, red in the face as Criss, evidently now bored with his fan club, dumped his tray down, sitting in between them. Krayonder muttered an _'oh, man,'_ under his breath, avoiding his friend's eye and pretending instead to be fascinated by his toast.

'So…' Criss began, 'did I see you guys just kiss?'

Krayonder turned a deeper shade of red. 'So what if you did? Aw, buddy, you're not gonna start puttin' bets on _us_, are you?'

'_Well,_' said Criss, but Krayonder already had a comeback lined up. He'd suspected this might happen, now Taz and Up were married and safely out of the line of gossip, and he'd been searching for his own card to play, which had presented itself to him just two nights ago.

'So,' he began, imitating Criss's deceptively casual tone, 'was it Ensign Klaine I saw _you_ kissin' in the bar the other night?'

Criss said nothing, but the crimson colour that spread across his face spoke for him.

'You don't make bets on me, I don't make bets on you,' Krayonder said, 'deal?

'Aw, I'm _never_ gonna be able to afford a new guitar,' Criss grumbled as he shook his hand.

Krayonder snorted. 'Dude, you have, like, three guitars already! Why'd you need another one?'

Criss hesitated for a moment, then returned to his usual demeanor. 'I'm writin' a song, you see, to charm Klaine! He loves my voice- well, who doesn't…and I need a bass for the lower chords…actually, it's kinda cool that you know now! 'Cause I need a second opinion on my totally awesome composition!' He jumped to his feet. 'I'll go get the sheet music to show you guys!'

And he was off again. Krayonder sighed, shuffling back towards Specs. Yeesh, that was close. He'd have to be more careful if he didn't want the entire G.L.E.E. to know about him and Specs right away…he looked around again. No-one else in the mess hall was paying him the slightest bit of attention now, but still…oh, what the hey.

He leaned forward and kissed her again.

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><p>It was only natural that Holden should step up to fill the position of Head of the Whole Galactic League. Whilst Space-Claw had shut himself off, rendezvoused with robots and carried out strange and frightening experiments, Holden had been the one to hold the League together; he was practically running the place anyway. They still hadn't decided what exactly to do with Space-Claw's quarters- the rooms seemed to radiate the evil of their old occupant, and since the rooms had been raided in order to violate the lockdown no-one had volunteered to go anywhere near them. As such, Up found himself traipsing along the corridor towards Holden's old office, now set apart from the rest by a shiny new gold nameplate on the door.<p>

Holden raised one eyebrow as he entered. 'Didn't I ask both you _and _Lieutenant Taz to report here?'

Up looked apologetically at the empty seat beside him and tried to think of a plausible excuse for her absence, other than 'she flatly refused to come.'

Holden waved off his apologies. 'This won't take all that long, anyway, it's only a formality, really.'

Up frowned. He had been expecting another stack of incident reports. 'A…'

'As you know, Up, the position of General is now free, and it is only fitting, due to your outstanding bravery and quick-thinking during these last few months, that we offer this position to you.'

Up really didn't know what to say now. His mouth opened silently. Sure, he was honoured- the General of the League was always highly respected, paid better, had control of nearly everything that went on- but they weren't attached to one ship and one crew. He could command whole fleets of ships, should such a mission arise, but it wouldn't be the same- he would hardly see his friends, and as for Taz…

Either Holden sensed his distress or he had been expecting it. 'You are not obliged to accept the post, Commander. I can completely understand if you'd prefer not- and due to your skills as both a leader and a fighter, not to mention your recent marriage, it may be advisable to stay where you are.'

Up let out a sigh of relief. 'I don't have ter…'

'No,' Holden said, with just the faintest hint of a smile, 'although you must understand why we had to at least give you the option of accepting it.'

The Commander smiled and saluted as he stood to leave, but Holden held up a hand.

'You're not yet dismissed, Commander,' he said and Up sat down, relishing more than ever the use of his title now he'd almost lost it. 'There was one other thing- and I would have preferred it if Lieutenant Taz had been here to hear it…'

Holden shot Up a pointed look, and he shrugged back.

'Both of your actions down on Bug World were outstanding. You two are what the starship rangers are all about- you showed initiative, courage, everything a tough soldier envies.'

The Commander couldn't help a small smile as he remembered himself six months ago, mirror in his hand, crooning _you're not a failure overall_ to himself. If that version of him could only see himself now, he thought ruefully.

'You both have another decoration coming your way- the very least we could do to reward such actions, but seeing as you won't accept promotions, it seemed appropriate. However,' Holden's left eyebrow was aiming for his forehead again, 'you may do well to tell Taz that if she doesn't start doing as her superiors tell her, I might be inclined to take it off her again…

Up grinned. 'Will do.'

Holden nodded. 'Dismissed, Commander.'

He stood and saluted again, pausing at the door. 'Sir?'

'Mm?' Holden replied without looking up from his work.

'Since I ain't takin' the General job, who is gettin' it?'

'Well,' said Holden, 'Crawford is the obvious choice, seeing as he too fought in the most recent battle. He can take the position- Criss will just have to move up to fill his shoes.'

Up couldn't help cringing. Criss in charge of a ship. It didn't bear thinking about.

He saw himself out, meandering back down the halls in search of his wife.

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><p>He found Taz having a one-sided argument with the conditioner bottle. Holding the practically empty container upside down, instead of shaking it or squeezing it like any normal person, she was shouting at it, uttering preposterous threats which, in reality, if carried out would have no effect on the bottle whatsoever.<p>

She was so immersed in this activity for a while she didn't notice Up's presence, until he slid the shower door aside and stood in the doorway.

Taz froze, arching one eyebrow.

'Did you only _just_ get up?'

'Shut up,' Taz growled, clubbing him on the shoulder with the bottle. Up rubbed his arm as he took it from her, smirking at its now mutilated state. He felt little pain from her latest assault, Taz's makeshift weapon having landed on one of the few remaining parts of his body that bore a resemblance to a robot. It now sported a large dent.

'De hell did Holden want, Up?' Taz demanded as she stood back to let him in.

'That's General Up to you,' Up teased, pouring the conditioner onto her head and beginning to knead it into the roots. .

'_Eres un mentiroso_,' she muttered.

'What, Taz?'

'Jou are such a liar!' she repeated in English, aiming an elbow at him.

'Aw, okay, then, I ain't the new General. He did offer, though. You ain't gonna believe who's got the job.' Up replied. 'Head back now.'

'I can wash my own damn hair.'

Up grinned. 'I know- but this way is more fun.'

Taz made an annoyed noise, and Up stuck a hand under the faucet, deflecting a jet of water into her face. Taz spluttered, glaring at him and Up couldn't help laughing. He wondered briefly if all newlyweds went through this- a period of intense happiness, where everything seemed either immensely amusing or simply too wonderful to contemplate. He was in the best mood of his life, and it all had to do with Taz.

'So who did get de job?' she said presently, after her ferocity had died down a little. She raised her eyebrows as a thought struck her. 'Not-'

'Crawford, yeah,' Up said. 'And they're movin' Criss up to take his place.'

Taz's eyes widened and she swore. 'Criss? _Criss?_ Can jou imagine what dat _hijo de puta_ is gonna be like when he finds out?'

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><p>'Commander Criss…hey, I like the sound of that! Don'tcha just love a guy with power?' Crawford had just announced his promotion to the crews of 15A2 and 17G5, and, as predicted, Criss's reaction had been nothing short of ecstasy. He was dancing around the room, waving, gushing about his new job and singing about what an awesome Commander he was going to make (although it was suspected by most that this last one was predominantly for Ensign Klaine's benefit).<p>

February was cheering him. Tootsie was hollering something which may have been encouraging, only it was hard to figure out what his mention of a rooster had to do with anything, and Krayonder was shouting '_that's great, man!'_ at the top of his voice.

Taz and Specs exchanged glances. 'Whose _estupido_ idea was it to make _him_ a Commander?' Taz muttered. Specs rolled her eyes in silent agreement.

'Dat _cabron_ couldn't command a flea circus, let alone a ship!'

Criss was now trying on Crawford's hat for size, posing for his audience with a call of 'Commander on deck!'

'Lieutenant!' came a small voice from somewhere behind her. 'Taz!'

Taz turned to find Denise waiting for her, one finger on her lips. 'They said it's okay to go see Reilly now, do you wanna come?'

She took one glance back at the others. Criss and Krayonder now had each other's hats on and were dancing with linked arms, while everyone looked on in a mix of amusement and embarrassment. No-one would notice if she slipped out, not that she cared all that much. This was too _ridiculo_ to watch.

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><p>Taz kept her pace slow and steady as she followed Denise to the infirmary, refusing to hasten, refusing to let her concern for him be seen. She did, after all, have a tough son-of-a-bitch reputation to maintain. It was bad enough everyone knew about her soft spot for Up, hard to hide nowadays. Sure, she did have quite a degree of affection both for her crewmates and the Little Tazzes, but she didn't want to destroy her tough reputation completely by appearing obviously worried about a kid who, until the events on Bug World, she had loathed with all of her being.<p>

Since Reilly had all but sacrificed his life for them, she couldn't help feeling a surge of affection for him. He'd proved himself- his sarcastic, arrogant ways seemed to be at an end now, and he'd done something extremely brave for the sake of the human race. You couldn't ignore an action like that- and neither, it appeared, could her four favourites. They had been waiting at his side as often as they could, watching out for him like one of their own.

Taz couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as she entered the medibay to find all four of them there, new Ensign badges gleaming from their uniforms, Reilly's dangling from where it had been pinned to a bandage on his head. It was fitting that they'd all been accelerated- after taking part in a battle like that, they needed little more lessons. They had already faced what was out there- studying gunlore was futile now, and they sat with a look of confidence, looking- and she would never tire of thinking like this- frighteningly like a group photograph of her.

Brian, Henry and Kelly all grinned, moving out the way to allow Taz to move closer to the bed. Reilly was sitting up, alert but still a little worse for wear, the burns on his arms bandaged up. Taz took a step closer, and fixed him with a mock-stern glance.

'Jou,' she said, 'are_ loco_!'

He gave her a sheepish look.

'Jou are reckless, jou could have been killed, jou are…' she paused, allowing the stern façade to drop, 'one tough sonovabitch!' She took his hand, shaking it hard. 'Jou know, I never t'ought jou had it in jou. When I first met jou, I guess I was too busy punching jou in de gut to notice jou were gonna save all our lives one day.'

She shook her head and Reilly smiled in earnest. It was a nice smile, she observed- she couldn't help but like the kid when, for the first time in her memory, he looked so genuine, so natural. And then she was struck with an idea- just an insignificant little idea, but as soon as it popped into her head she knew she couldn't get rid of it.

'Jou kids been assigned a ship yet?' she queried. They collectively shook their heads.

Taz paused. She hadn't consulted Up about this, and he was the Commander after all, but she couldn't see him objecting- and they _were _damn good rangers. Not that she had anything against February, Tootsie and the gang, in fact, she'd grudgingly grown rather fond of them as time went by, but it might be worth it to balance out the goofs on the ship with a few more soldiers. She squared her shoulders.

'Jou have now.'

A few excited gasps rose up.

'You mean…'

'Are we really…'

'Did Up say it was okay?'

Taz's mouth twisted. 'He will.' She would make sure of it.

She gave them a little salute, taking one last look at the five of them before she exited the infirmary. Kelly's hand was resting on the bedside table, fingers loosely linked with Henry's. The corners of her mouth curved upwards. _Just like me and Up._

And speaking of Up, he'd promised her a spar and a movie tonight. Just the two of them. Just like old times. She set off with a spring in her step.

* * *

><p>Up's eyes drifted toward the TV. He'd said it before and he'd say it again- it didn't get any better than this. Jackie Chan on the screen, a big bowl of popcorn and Taz in his arms. It had been a long time since he'd been able to just relax with her, to not have to worry about robots or reconstructions or even upcoming missions. With the robot threat gone, it was a while until 15A2 would be back in action- the upcoming weeks would be nothing but recuperation, organisation and training.<p>

Up looked down at the Hispanic girl- his girl, lounging in his lap. Her sleepy eyes were pointed in the direction of the television, one arm around his neck, the fingers curling into his hair. _Damn, _how he loved her. She never ceased to surprise him- one moment she could be ferocious, punching him with all she had as they sparred, the next comforting and quiet as he held her, and the next she'd be telling him, most matter-of-factly, that she had decided her recruits were joining his crew, without consulting him first. If there was one thing that could be said about her, she got her own way. She was strong-willed. She was determined.

She was brilliant. And she was his.

'Jou watching me or _la pelicula?'_ Taz demanded, her head cocked to one side as she glared up at him. The last time she'd said that he'd had to make excuses for himself. Now he did what he had always wanted to- drew her close and kissed her. Up felt an enormous sense of contentment wash over him as Taz settled back down in his lap, her head resting against his chest.

Everything seemed to be surreally perfect- no upcoming wars, no nosy rangers watching their every move, trying to catch them out for their own financial gain, it was the first time in months they'd been able to just watch 'the Karate Kid' without something else on their minds. And this time, he didn't have to worry about whether or not it was too obvious he liked Taz. If he wanted to kiss her, he could, and what's more he damn well would.

The last six months or so had gone by so fast….it had been a ride, a wild, insanely fast, unstoppable ride as he'd regained his strength, gained more than Taz's friendship, regained a human body, lost Taz again and nearly lost his life. But now all that was done, the future looked bright, unencumbered. He could see days stretching ahead with just him and Taz, and nothing to come in between them.

The thought brought a contented sigh from Up's chest, and he leaned down, resting his head against Taz's.

_A bit o' well-earned peace._

'Aw! You guys are sooo cute!'

Both rangers groaned loudly, Taz leaping from Up's lap and stalking across the room in the direction of the voice. Up shook his head as the Hispanic girl flung open the wardrobe doors, dragging out a blithely cheery February and swearing at the top of her voice as she shoved her violently out the room.

_Or maybe not. _

* * *

><p><strong>I don't know what to think about this one. The story probably could have ended without it, it was just sort of to tie a few minor things off. Lots more Criss than I intended- I have grown far too fond of him for my own good.<strong>

**And forgive me for the slightly cheesy ending- I couldn't resist ending on a reprise of the Karate Kid scene.**

**Hope you enjoyed. Take care.**** :D**


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